This morning Donald J. Trump, the reality show president, posted a notice on Facebook and on his favorite, channel, Twitter, that American companies "are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA."
Since when can the president of the United States ORDER American companies to do his bidding? Where does that come from? What authority?
Who and what will he ORDER next? I shudder to think. Trump is completely delusional and anyone who follows him blindly is as well.
What happened following his announcement? Within 45 minutes the stock market plunged nearly 400 points, stalling, at least temporarily, a slow climb back from previous scares caused by this unhinged occupant of the White House. And by the close? Down 628 points.
Why? Presumably because investors are worried -- and rightly so -- about the long-term implications of Trump's continuing trade war with China. What will he do next? It's anybody's guess.
What is remarkable, although not surprising, is the response by many of those who follow his Facebook page:
Greg Knight: As expected after president trump announced we don’t need China and for companies To look elsewhere for their supply chains, The Stock Market went down. I lost money! I don’t care. I’ll gladly pay more for things made elsewhere or not buy things I don’t need. I support this decision. 1000%. Day traders and anti trumpets can sell Their stocks all day long. We will win in true end. Wars cost money, at least this war won’t cost our amazing service member lives. Fight on President Trump!
Eric Ochanji II: Finally the world finds a man who can tell China off. China is crippling my country. This is beautiful!
Pete Kruml: Fantastic. The US can't be held hostage by China and we have a president willing to stand his ground and not bend like so many others have. Its all about our country, our people, our IP. Go Trump Go!!!🇺🇸️🇺🇸️🇺🇸️🇺🇸️❤️.
But then, there were these from some people who at least think:
Brian Thomas Auker We’ve never had a president this ignorant about international economics.
🙄🇺🇸😳
Trump needs to ease up on the amphetamines and start listening to his advisors.
Krassenstein Brothers You don't get it... You have WAY MORE to LOSE in this than China's leadership. You are up for re-election in 14 months. China knows this and won't back down. You are going to spiral the world economy into a massive recession driven by currency devaluation and trade wars.
So, once again, America's economy and our own financial security are being toyed with by an egomaniac who thinks he can turn our precious democracy into an autocracy. Sorry, Mr. Reality Show MC, you are mistaken. Our Constitution was designed to protect us from the likes of you.
But unless Congress grows some cahunas and acts, what disasters await us until November 2020? I shudder to think.