The Statism of Donald Trump

The Statism of Donald Trump.

By Lou Rockwell, many libertarians

hope that Donald Trump would favor many free market policies.

The claim by these libertarians was that aside

from obvious exceptions like eminent domain and tariffs,

he was basically sympathetic to the free market.

Unfortunately, these hopes have not been fulfilled

and in this week's article, I'll try to ship this.

Before going ahead though,

I'd like to avert a possible misunderstanding.

The issue we have to deal with is Trump's policy,

not whether he was a marginally more acceptable choice

for president than his Democratic party opponent,

the woke Kamala Harris.

Many people regarded her as a repellent figure,

but to reiterate this isn't our topic.

I mentioned obvious deviations like tariffs,

but the fact that a deviation is obvious

doesn't address the question of how serious the deviation is.

And as the great Ron Ones points out,

the deviation is very serious indeed.

His outrageous liberation day tariffs

were announced on April 2nd,

but it would have been far more appropriate for them

to have been released on April Fool's Day.

The gigantic international tariffs

that he imposed apparently based upon personal whim

were quickly retracted a few days later,

but then regularly restored,

raised and lowered over and over again

during the month that followed.

Not only was this the most bizarre sequence

of massive international tax changes

on trillions of dollars of goods

that the world had ever seen,

but all of it was a total violation

of American constitutional law.

Across thousands of years,

the world has seen many important countries

ruled by absolute monarchs or all powerful dictators

with some of these leaders even considered deranged.

But I can't recall any past example

in which a major nation's tax tariff

or tribute policies have undergone such rapid

and sudden changes moving up and down

by huge amounts apparently based upon personal whim.

Certainly, Caligula never did anything so peculiar.

Nor Louis XIV, nor Genghis Khan, nor anyone else

who comes to mind.

Lopping off the heads of a few random government officials

was one thing,

but drastic changes in national financial policies

were generally taken much more seriously.

I don't think that Tamerlane ever suddenly

raised the tribute he demanded

from his terrified subjects by a factor of 10,

then a few days later lowered it back down

by a factor of two.

Trump is also an ardent inflationist.

He says a criterion for the new chair of the Fed

is that the choice must favor lowering interest rates.

We know from Austrian business cycle theory

that this will generate an artificial boom

that must eventually crash and cause a depression.

According to the New York Times, this is what Trump said.

President Trump said on Tuesday

that he wanted the next chair of the federal reserve

to lower interest rates if financial markets are doing well

rather than raising borrowing costs

to temper any investor exuberance.

The Fed sets interest rates with an aim

to foster a healthy labor market

and maintain low stable inflation,

but it also keeps a close eye on financial stability risks.

In a social media post on Tuesday,

Trump, who is in the process of selecting the next chair,

said that the Fed should not kill rallies

which could lift our nation by 10, 15,

and even 20 GDP points in a year

and maybe even more than that.

Trump added,

anybody that disagrees with me will never be the Fed chairman.

The free market should never be confused

with crony capitalism,

a system of government business partnership

studied by Hunter Lewis and Sean Ritenauer,

among others, in which the government owns or subsidizes

corrupt corporations for their mutual profit

at the expense of the public.

Trump has pursued this policy to unprecedented lengths.

As the economic historian Adam Tuz has pointed out,

when President Trump ran for re-election in 2024,

he and his family already had vast business interests,

stretching from Manhattan office towers

to a golf course in Ireland to hotel deals

as 2024 far away is Vietnam.

The president's second term has brought a major expansion

of that empire with forays into cryptocurrency,

communications, financial products,

and now a fusion power deal.

Ventures launched since Trump's re-election

generated at least $4 billion in proceeds

and paper wealth for the family as of December

according to company statements and securities filings.

It's unprecedented for a president

to have such far-reaching business interests

while in office, including in areas

where the administration regulates.

Let's turn to the issue the great Murray Rothbard thought

was the most important of all, war or peace.

In his view, it's almost always better

to preserve peace rather than go to war.

For this reason, America should follow a policy

of non-intervention in conflicts that don't involve

a direct invasion or the immediate threat of one.

Trump's policy is the opposite of this.

He seeks to establish American hegemony all over the world.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs, a renowned authority

on national security whose advice

is sought by many foreign governments, says,

the 2025 national security strategy NSS

recently released by President Donald Trump

presents itself as a blueprint for renewed American strength.

It is dangerously misconceived in four ways.

First, the NSS is anchored in grandiosity.

The belief that the United States enjoys unmatched supremacy

in every key dimension of power.

Second, it is based on a starkly Machiavellian view

of the world, treating other nations as instruments

to be manipulated for American advantage.

Third, it rests on a naive nationalism

that dismisses international law and institutions

as incumbrances on U.S. sovereignty

rather than as frameworks that enhance U.S.

and global security together.

Fourth, it signals a thuggery in Trump's use of the CIA

and military.

Within days of the NSS's publication,

the U.S. brazenly seized the tanker carrying Venezuelan oil

on the high seas on the flimsy grounds

if the vessel had previously violated U.S. sanctions

against Iran.

Why do we have the right to impose sanctions against Iran

or punish nations that don't accept them?

Professor Sacks goes on, the seizure

was not a defensive measure to avert an imminent threat.

Nor is it remotely legal to seize vessels on the high seas

because of unilateral U.S. sanctions

only the UN Security Council has such authority.

Instead, the seizure is an illegal act designed

to force regime change in Venezuela.

It follows Trump's declaration that he has directed

the CIA to carry out covert operations inside Venezuela

to destabilize the regime.

American security will not be strengthened

by acting like a bully.

It will be weakened structurally, morally, and strategically.

A great power that frightens its allies,

coerces its neighbors, and disregards

international rules ultimately isolates itself.

The NSS, in other words, is not just an exercise

in hubris-on paper.

It is rapidly being translated into brazen practice.

The last, but not least, let's not forget

the shocking inhumanity shown by Trump

and his minion secretary of war, Hexath,

and their barbarous killing of two survivors

of a drone attack on their flimsy boat.

War is almost always bringing atrocities with them.

And unfortunately, Trump's war on Venezuela

is no exception.

According to an account published by the Washington Post

on November 28, as two men clung to a stricken burning ship

targeted by SEAL Team 6, the Joint Special Operations

Commander followed the Defense Secretary's order

to leave no survivors.

The longer the US surveillance aircraft followed the boat,

the more confident intelligence analysts

watching from command centers became

that the 11 people on board were ferrying drugs.

Defense Secretary Pete Hexath gave a spoken directive

according to two people with direct knowledge of the operation.

The order was to kill everybody, one of them said.

A missile screamed off the Trinidad coast, striking the vessel

and igniting a blaze from bow to stern.

For minutes, commanders watched the boat burning

on a live drone feed.

As the smoke cleared, they got a jolt.

Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck.

Hexath's order, which has not been previously reported,

adds another dimension to the campaign

against suspected drug traffickers.

People were aghast at this barbarous display.

And in response, the Trump administration

put out a transparently lame excuse.

It tried to shift the blame to the Admiral

in charge of the operation.

President Donald Trump said on Sunday

that he would not have warned a sick and strike on the boat

and said Hexath denied giving such an order.

But White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt

said on Monday that Hexath had authorized Admiral Frank

Bradley to conduct the strikes on September 2nd.

Secretary Hexath authorized Admiral Bradley

to conduct these kinetic strikes.

Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority

and the law directing the engagement

to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat

to the United States of America was eliminated, Levitt said.

Levitt said the strike was conducted in self-defense

to protect US interests, took place in international waters

and was in line with the law of armed conflict.

This administration has designated these narco terrorists

as foreign terrorist organizations, Levitt said.

Starting in September, the US military

has carried out at least 19 strikes

against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean

and off the Pacific coast of Latin America,

killing at least 76 people,

blowing up people who are clinging to a boat

so that they won't drown its cowardly and dastardly.

Oh, only those utterly without a conscience

could do such a thing.

Let's do everything we can to promote a genuine free market

and peace as Murray Rothbard has taught us.

Let's reject the stateism of Donald Trump.

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