Maggie Haberman stops podcaster cold with new Trump revelation

Systemic Error Podcast · Aug 11, 2026 · 3m

Tariffs by Mood, Government by GuessworkOne Short Fact PatternMaggie Haberman says Donald Trump was surprised to learn his own China tariff rate had climbed to 145 percent, then floated 10 percent as if the number were a coin toss. She also says the escalation ran on instinct, competing adviser estimates, and a last-minute pullback after bond markets started to crack. That is the whole story, and it is enough.Power Sits at the TopThe relevant fact is not that Trump lacked information. It is that he had the authority to impose massive economic punishment and then improvise around it in real…