Why Trump’s Favorite Shoe Company Is Fighting the White House (w/ Thomas Florsheim Jr.)

Bulwark Takes

The Bulwark

News, Society & Culture, Politics, News Commentary

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Catherine Rampell is joined by Thomas Florsheim Jr., whose company makes the president’s favorite shoe brand, to discuss what Trump’s tariff agenda has meant for his business. From skyrocketing import costs to supply-chain chaos to millions paid in tariffs, Thomas explains why reshoring production to the United States still doesn’t make economic sense. He describes the scramble to move manufacturing between countries, the hidden costs businesses face from constant policy uncertainty, and why his company ultimately sued the federal government over the tariffs.

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Transcript

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1:31.7	Hi, I'm Catherine Rampel economics editor here at the bulwark. I just finished talking with Tom Flauchime, Jr.
1:38.6	If that name sounds familiar, it's because Flauchime Shoes is our president's very favorite brand of shoes. He has been
1:46.0	outfitting much of his cabinet in Floorheim Shoes. Tom runs the Waco Company, which makes this brand.
1:53.0	And we talked a little bit about what life has been like over the past year since Liberation Day
1:58.4	tariffs arrived. Spoiler alert, it's been a little rough. At one point,
2:02.4	those tariffs got so high that the cost of bringing shoes into the United States more than doubled.
	...

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