Chris Lehmann explains, “the particulars of the new tariff program were of less moment than ensuring that the timing was right.” Could the timing ever be right? The administration tried to time its tariff announcement with the close of Wednesday’s market, but “despite the administration’s best efforts,” Lehmann writes, “the global futures markets promptly tanked in response to Trump’s announcement, shedding more than 3 percent in value—roughly $1.4 trillion—in just four minutes.”

We can’t predict exactly how this chaos will play out in the long term—Republicans, Jeet Heer writes, “are leaning into variations of the adage ‘short-term pain, long-term gain’”—but it does seem clear that things are going to get ugly. As Jake Werner notes, even before Trump’s announcement, China’s Foreign Ministry said, “If the US is determined to fight a tariff war, a trade war—or any other kind of war—China will meet the attack and fight to the finish.” Later, the threat increased, “promising that, ‘no matter if it’s a cold war or a hot war,’ the US will not win.” We’ll see what happens, but as of now, Trump’s strategy doesn’t have things looking very good.

-Alana Pockros

Engagement Editor, The Nation

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