Donald Trump announced yesterday, by tweet, that a 5% tariff on Mexican imports would be his latest move in attempting to stop central American refugees from coming to the U.S.-Mexico border. Experts pointed out that trade wars are not good for business, that the U.S. (especially Texas) is one of Mexico’s largest trading partners, that tariffs are just essentially taxes paid by Americans, and that Mexico cannot control the number of migrants leaving central America.
Advocates pointed out that this is the Trump Administration flailing: the White House has done everything from traumatically separating families to shutting down the government to declaring an illegal state of emergency to try and deter migrants from coming to the border, and none of them have come close to working. Meanwhile, experts have been pointing to the real, practical, and humane ways that the refugee crisis could be resolved. Maybe, just maybe, it’s time for the Trump Administration to stop listening to the racist know-nothing that is Stephen Miller?
Below are some of our favorite tweets responding to the Trump tariffs:
You guys, I'm no economist, but I've reviewed my pretty significant library of conservative economic thinking and I'm trying to find the free market principle of "rage-tweeting tariffs against Mexico and raise taxes on Americans because you hate brown people."
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) May 31, 2019
Shorter Trump: we’ve failed so we’re gonna blame the neighbors, tax ourselves and hope our people see motion as movement. https://t.co/okI3KWRZxE
— Frank Sharry (@FrankSharry) May 31, 2019
Taxing Americans To Get Mexico To Stop Central Americans: This Is What Flailing Looks Like https://t.co/LJqwZ1dAnt via @AmericasVoice #immigration
— Douglas Rivlin 🇺🇲 (@douglasrivlin) May 31, 2019
A few notes on Trump's rage-tariffs on Mexico:
* WH won't say what counts as Mexico doing his bidding
* Trump is raging at Mexico over migrants, while nixing Central American aid, making problem worse
* Congress could stop this, but won't
New piece: https://t.co/woCXfRHlJV
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) May 31, 2019
Of course, cause there are no limits to what Miller and his boss will do to bash immigrants, even tank the economy –> "The tariff was pushed by advisor Stephen Miller, an immigration hawk" https://t.co/D4XlCgQdiW
— Joe Sudbay (@JoeSudbay) May 31, 2019
CNBC says the #TrumpTariffs were Stephen Miller's idea. If true, not a surprise, but still. WH is lurching from one crisis to another listening to Miller's harebrained, extremist ideas.https://t.co/l28ogvQbDD
— America's Voice (@AmericasVoice) May 31, 2019
Stephen Miller is the second most powerful person in the country.
The AP & CNBC just reported that Trump's ENTIRE ECONOMIC TEAM opposed tariffs on Mexico, but Miller supported it.
In addition to policy advice, Trump is now taking economic counsel from a xenophobic, racist child
— Arjun Sethi (@arjunsethi81) May 31, 2019
Texas imported $107 billion in goods form Mexico last year.
Our farmers, manufacturers, businesses sent $110 billion in goods to Mexico.
If we don’t stop these new tariffs, the tax on Texas alone would be $27 billion.
But no state would be spared.https://t.co/ewKlddM7BT
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) May 31, 2019
"The White House can’t explain it, because the tariffs won’t help solve the immigration crisis that Trump created. Trump is taking the excellent economy that Obama left him and turning it into a recession one tariff at a time."
https://t.co/vkhXTLrUGk via @politicususa— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) May 31, 2019
Trump's economic advisers said "no" and his nativism adviser Stephen Miller said "yes" and lo and behold Miller won and Trump announced new tariffs on Mexico via tweet. Just a terrible, erratic way to run a country; it will hurt our economy and endanger trade agreements. https://t.co/3tym6ZxpTr
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) May 31, 2019
He’s tweeting again.
This time, it’s not a personal attack. It’s an attempt to sabotage our economy, advance his anti-immigrant agenda, and destroy our relationships. https://t.co/80xqK1KIFD
— Ben Ray Luján (@repbenraylujan) May 31, 2019
Trump is asking Mexico to fix a problem he’s aggravated every step along the way. Few decisions will hurt US interests as much as this tariffs and Trump knows it. So the goal is not to solve the crisis at the border, but to create the regional instability that fuels his platform. https://t.co/WYhN2nqfY0
— Enrique Acevedo (@Enrique_Acevedo) May 31, 2019
"Beyond this being terrible policy, it's ridiculous to think that Mexico could stop migration." | Trump says he will impose escalating tariffs on Mexico to stop migrant surge https://t.co/9qdYTB0IEg w/ @dleelatimes @margotroosevelt @latimes @latimespolitics
— Molly O'Toole (@mollymotoole) May 31, 2019
.@realDonaldTrump created an immigration crisis through his ill-conceived, hateful policies – and now is manufacturing an economic crisis through the #TrumpTariffs.
This policy needs to be reversed immediately before it causes further economic disruption https://t.co/5GJNng0qVX
— Rep. Nydia Velazquez (@NydiaVelazquez) May 31, 2019
