Trump’s Trade War Is a Fucking Con, And You’re the Mark

Higher prices, lost jobs, global chaos. All so he can play dictator

Smoot-Hawley 2.0: Trump’s Tariffs Are Dragging Us Into a New Depression

Welcome to The Wisecrackers' Desk! I'm Tracy Rigdon, and I call political bullshit exactly what it is. No filters, no corporate sponsors telling me to tone it down, just raw, honest analysis of America's political circus. Whether you're a longtime reader, someone who's sampled paid content before, or you've just discovered my work, I'm grateful you're here. My unfiltered take on the headlines mainstream media tiptoes around and the political hypocrisy that deserves exposure has resonated with readers who appreciate straight talk about the mess we're all witnessing.

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America First? Try America Fucked: The Real Cost of Trump’s Tariff Tantrum

There’s no polite way to say this, so let’s just fucking say it: America got mugged in broad daylight. Not by a foreign enemy. Not by shadowy forces in backrooms. But by a weaponized economic policy shoved down our throats by a regime that treats governance like a grift. And now, the country is bleeding cash, jobs, and credibility, while the architects of this disaster grin behind gated walls and bloated portfolios.

This isn’t theory. This isn’t partisan spin. It’s the math, the pain, and the reality millions of Americans are living right now.

The so-called “tariff war” is not a war, it’s a tax. A massive, stealthy, regressive tax that’s turned your grocery bill, your car payments, your utility rates, and your kid’s school supplies into collateral damage. And the bastard who lit the match? He’s laughing, counting his donor checks, and talking tough on TV while the middle class eats shit.

Let’s talk about the numbers, because they don’t lie, unlike those selling this scam.

The latest 2025 tariffs slammed 10% on all imports, with some surging past 30% depending on where the goods come from. That doesn’t hit some distant diplomat or multinational ghost—it hits the person bagging your groceries, the mechanic fixing your brakes, the parents working double shifts to buy a used minivan.

According to the Peterson Institute, this shitshow amounts to a $400 billion tax increase, paid not by foreign exporters, but by American families. Working-class households are taking a 2.3% cut to their disposable income. Rich folks? Barely flinch with a 0.9% dip. That’s not policy, that’s class warfare with a press secretary.

This isn’t economic nationalism. It’s economic narcissism. And the people cheering it on? Either completely deluded or willfully cruel.

THE SCAM THAT WON’T DIE: TARIFFS AS CULT PROPAGANDA

The playbook is simple: Tell working Americans they’re being robbed by China, the EU, or some liberal elite. Feed them a story that their pain is noble, their sacrifice patriotic. Wrap it all in a flag, pump it through a media echo chamber, and profit while they wave their own destruction like it’s a fucking badge of honor.

Tariffs have become a totem of the MAGA mythology. Not because they work—but because they hurt. And in a cult obsessed with grievance and punishment, pain is the point.

Never mind that American manufacturing hasn’t roared back. Never mind that supply chains are more fragile. Never mind that China hasn’t backed down. The tariffs weren’t designed to succeed. They were designed to enrage, and keep the base loyal while their own wallets are picked clean.

And if you think this is some abstract policy beef? Ask Mia Sanchez in El Paso. Her shop depended on cross-border imports. Overnight, her costs tripled. Six employees laid off. No safety net. Just debt and silence.

Ask James Holloway in Dayton. Factory promised jobs after the 2020s tariffs. Then the price of parts spiked. They offshored to Mexico again. “So much for bringing shit back,” he told me. “We got played twice.”

Ask DeShawn Miller, Baltimore Uber driver. Kid to feed. Diapers, gas, groceries, everything up. Pay? The same. “I’m not surviving,” he said. “I’m dissolving.”

These people aren’t side effects. They’re ground zero.