Donald Trump Finally Gets His Way on Tariffs
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
WNYC Studios and The New Yorker
4.2 • 3.3K Ratings
🗓️ 5 April 2025
⏱️ 34 minutes
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Summary
The Washington Roundtable discusses President Donald Trump’s invocation of emergency powers to enact sweeping tariffs and the ensuing global economic meltdown, in addition to how authoritarians have historically used economic control and coercion to strengthen their grip on power. The Roundtable also examines other spheres where Trump’s maximalist approach might make a mark, including immigration enforcement, the politicization of the military, and the potential seizure of Greenland.
This week’s reading:
- “Donald Trump’s Ego Melts the Global Economy,” by Susan B. Glasser
- “Pete Hegseth’s Secret History,” by Jane Mayer (December, 2024)
- “The Truth About Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day,’ ” by John Cassidy
- “Has Trump’s Legal Strategy Backfired?,” by Ruth Marcus
- “Fighting Elon Musk, One Tesla Dealership at a Time,” by Sarah Larson
- “How Trump Is Helping Tycoons Exploit the Pandemic,” by Jane Mayer (July, 2020)
To discover more podcasts from The New Yorker, visit newyorker.com/podcasts. To send in feedback on this episode, write to [email protected] with “The Political Scene” in the subject line.
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| 0:00.0 | We want to celebrate Jane Mayer on the Polk Awards. Yes, exactly. Home news, I believe this is, right? Our very own Jane Mayer, a multiple-time recipient of... |
| 0:12.0 | Yes, recidivist, recidivist winner of the Polk Awards. Thank you guys. I am honored to be a colleague of yours, and I really appreciate the shoutouts. Thanks so much. |
| 0:24.6 | And in all seriousness, this was a sort of instant classic of investigator reporting or what you were able to. |
| 0:29.3 | Well, that's right. And even more relevant than ever to go back. And if you didn't read it or you want to just read it again, Jane's important reporting about |
| 0:37.9 | our now confirmed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegeseth. |
| 0:42.4 | Yeah, the overshare. |
| 0:43.5 | Thank you. |
| 0:44.0 | Before there was Signalgate, there was Jane's story. |
| 0:53.0 | Welcome to the political scene, a weekly discussion about the big questions in American politics. |
| 0:58.6 | I'm Susan Glasser, and I'm joined by my colleagues Jane Mayer and Evan Osnos. |
| 1:03.4 | Hi, Jane. |
| 1:04.2 | Hey, Susan. |
| 1:05.3 | Hi, Evan. |
| 1:06.0 | Good morning, guys. |
| 1:09.9 | Much to discuss, much to catch up on since we were away last week. |
| 1:14.4 | But there's no question what the biggest story in the world is. |
| 1:19.0 | A global economic meltdown triggered by Donald Trump's announcement that the U.S. would impose a minimum 10% tariff on goods from around the world |
| 1:30.0 | and even higher duties for countries in Europe and Asia. The trade war long awaited, |
| 1:38.5 | long feared, has finally begun. In the words of the ever-quotable Larry Summers, never before has an hour of |
| 1:47.1 | presidential rhetoric cost so many people, so much. Well, we'll let Summers and the other |
| 1:54.1 | economists explain just how much of a blow this is to the global economy and what's going to happen |
| 1:59.7 | next in the trade wars. But for our purposes, |
... |
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