Trumpers expect shortages

Two Trump administration officials and a Trump aide tell Rolling Stone that they have done some stockpiling of their own in recent weeks or months, and that they know others working in Republican politics — inside and outside of the administration — who are doing the same. One of the Trump officials says they have already run to Target to bulk-buy toilet paper, some types of food, and other household supplies.

When asked why they’re doing this, the Trump aide — who says they and their partner have done similar household-supply hoarding lately, and are also “stashing cash” reserves in their D.C.-area home — simply replies: “Because it would be stupid not to!” The aide adds that they still believe in Trump’s tariffs regime, though, citing the supposed advantage of “short-term pain” in exchange for long-term “prosperity.”

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A significant share of the GOP luminaries on Capitol Hill, members of the Republican donor class, and some top-ranking officials in the Trump administration are privately (and sometimes publicly) extremely fearful that Trump’s trade warfare is going to throttle the U.S. economy and further drive down his and the party’s approval ratings ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

But because Trump commands a towering personality cult among the Republican base and rules over his party with catty malice, these GOP bigwigs mostly have to just go along with it and smile.

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In the corridors of power within Trump’s own administration, there is a growing belief that the Chinese government indeed has the upper hand in this stage of the trade standoff, and that Trump is strategically flailing and looking for easy wins that don’t actually exist. [...] Many in the GOP’s upper echelons are keeping their fingers crossed that the president will find some outs and declare imaginary victory before his economic war inflicts too much damage on the average American voter.

  Rolling Stone

This is dereliction of duty, at best.

As CNN reported on Monday: “A 59 percent majority of the public now says President Donald Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions in the country, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, up from 51 percent in March."

[...]

[T]he president did the only thing he could think to do: He took to the internet to try to pin the blame for the mess he’s made on former President Joe Biden.

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“If we continue down this path, I think it’s going to be pretty bleak for the economy,” says Marc Short, who once served as Trump’s White House legislative affairs director and as a top aide to Mike Pence. “There’s likely going to be significant job losses and potential supply problems in your stores. I do think the president is very adept at claiming victory and reversing his policies, so there’s a question about how long this actually goes. But if you look at the data on trucking and shipping right now, I think by the end of May, you’re going to see more shortages and supply disruptions.”

And here we are.