Washington Merry-Go-Round

IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10 August 2025
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND
Today’s Events in Historical Perspective
America’s Longest-Running Column Founded 1932
Shameless, shamed, and shirked
By Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift         
 
WASHINGTON – There is a subculture of powerful people in America rooted in the intersection of money and politics. They stand apart from us, playing by their own free-wheeling rules. The worst of them are unconcerned about such mundane words as sleaze, corruption, and bribery. The best of them are powerful and decent leaders who refuse the subculture’s siren call but are shamed into gaming the system. No better example of such a counterculture warrior can be found than in the person of Apple CEO Tim Cook, by all accounts an honorable man.
He recently met with President Trump in the Oval Office, bearing a gift and a promise. The gift was a one-of-a-kind glass engraving designed by an Apple employee and mounted on a 24-karat gold base. Perfect for the gold-loving president.
That was just the start. While there, Cook announced that Apple is making a $100 billion commitment to manufacture more of its products in America. The company is ponying up to the bar to give the president what he wants in exchange for doing business, in this case, an exemption from the 50 percent tariff Trump just imposed on India.
The move by Cook was brilliant. In exchange for a “commitment” that may never be fulfilled to invest in American production, Apple is receiving a massive $1.1 billion immediate benefit for its actual ongoing production in India. It was a quid pro quo light on quid, heavy on quo.
Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter was in Washington the same week and left empty-handed. The crushing 39 percent tariff on Swiss pharmaceuticals, gold refining, high-end machinery, and chocolates will remain. Keller-Sutter would have been better off meeting with Tim Cook and learning the new rules of the game.
Then we have Canadian Prime Minister Carney, who is wildly popular at home for standing up to Trump, but his country – America’s largest trading partner – has taken a big tariff hit. And the more Carney revels in his newfound fame, the more irritated Trump gets. Carney is playing chicken with TACO man, now known by the derogatory acronym for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”
Carney is not alone. The 50 percent tariff on India reflects Trump’s annoyance that India, a friend and ally, is buying cheap oil from Russia, filling Putin’s coffers, and allowing the Russian president to continue to wage war on Ukraine.
Indian President Modi, who has emulated Trump in many ways with his “Make India Great policies,” responded that his country – the world’s largest democracy – must buy energy at the best price. He made no apologies, which of course further infuriated Trump.
In the end, even the defiant leaders know what all world leaders know, they must eventually come on bended knee to the most powerful man in the world.
So, here we have examples of a leader gaming the system, a leader not understanding the system, and two leaders defying the system. All four are banking on time, attempting to await a public backlash by American consumers facing the impact of the highest tariffs since the infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930, an act that arguably either caused or greatly lengthened the Great Depression. The average new tariff is 27 percent versus the existing 2.5 percent, which will cause costs to go up for consumers for “everything from sneakers to bananas as well as the cost of their next car,” as a New York Times analysis put it.
Trump and other administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Bessent, who knows better, are repeating the lie that other countries pay the tariff imposed on their products. That is not true. Tariffs are paid by the importer and passed on to consumers. It is a tax on the common man, end of story.
Finally, there are the enablers. The Constitution grants Congress the power to regulate foreign commerce, impose tariffs, and collect revenue. But the Republican-controlled Congress has shirked its responsibilities and given Trump a free hand to do what he wishes with tariff policy.
We live in an era dominated by a subculture of the shameless, the shamed, and the shirkers.
 
See Eleanor Clift’s book Selecting a President, and Douglas Cohn’s latest books The President’s First Year: The Only School for Presidents Is the Presidency and World War 4: Nine Scenarios (endorsed by seven flag officers).
Twitter:  @douglas_cohn
© 2024 U.S. News Syndicate, Inc.
Distributed by U.S. News Syndicate, Inc.
END WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND