Donald Trump’s Economic Warfare Abroad Comes Home
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 25 April 2026
⏱️ 46 minutes
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Summary
The Washington Roundtable discusses the global consequences of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz with Edward Fishman, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of the book “Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare.” The group explores how Donald Trump’s embrace of economic weapons such as tariffs, along with his military escalation in Iran, has upended the world’s economy and weakened his popularity at home. “I think we have not seen the worst of this war yet,” Fishman says. “I don’t see how anyone can view that as a victory, and we all know Donald Trump doesn’t like to look like a loser.”
See the Washington Roundtable live at 92NY on June 4th.
This week’s reading:
- “Trump and the Iran Deal That Wasn’t,” by Susan B. Glasser
- “Donald Trump’s Triumphal Arch and the Architecture of Autocracy,” by Adam Gopnik
- “How Big a Threat Are Iranian-Backed Cyberattacks?,” by Sue Halpern
- “How Beijing Views the War in Iran,” by Isaac Chotiner
The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Amelia Island, Florida, invites you to breathe a little deeper and enjoy the luxury of letting go. |
| 0:06.9 | Discover the tranquil seaside getaway embraced by salt air, sunshine, and authentic southern charm. |
| 0:14.7 | Find your unwind at amelia Island.com. |
| 0:20.5 | I have to say, I know it's already April guys, but I do feel like we missed a chance |
| 0:24.2 | to do a March Madness on the subject of which Trump cabinet members are most likely to go |
| 0:29.2 | down. I mean, I don't know about you, but I have been impressed by the former Labor Secretary |
| 0:35.0 | Lori Chavez de Riemer. the sheer range and ambition of lunatic misconduct |
| 0:42.9 | that is alleged by her involving drinking in the office and it gets involved with her husband |
| 0:48.8 | and her father. I mean, that was a real come from behind victory as far as I'm concerned. |
| 0:53.1 | You don't think sending out for Rose A is what the cabinet's supposed to be doing. |
| 0:58.9 | I don't know, Evan. |
| 1:00.1 | I mean, if you're making predictions, the females in the cabinet are particularly endangered species. |
| 1:06.5 | So I might put my money on Tulsi next. |
| 1:09.5 | Tulsi Gabbard. |
| 1:10.3 | Susan, what about you, Susan? |
| 1:11.7 | I feel like this was always a knockdown, dragout contest between RFK Jr. and Pete Hegseth. |
| 1:20.3 | Because you got, okay, the future public health of our entire nation, you know, our grandchildren are going to be getting measles because |
| 1:27.7 | this guy. So that's one thing to balance. Also, can we talk about the whole cutting off the |
| 1:33.5 | raccoon penis on the side of the road? Like, what is that about with us? Okay. |
| 1:37.8 | So that, did you see when he was asked, did you see when he was asked about it by a reporter? |
| 1:44.3 | And he just, he just looks at him and chuckles and goes, huh, huh, huh. |
| 1:49.7 | Oh, my God. |
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