The Patriot Who Shot His Own Ship: Trump’s Trade Blunder

 

Trump’s trade views belong in a museum. Global trade is a web, not a war. His tariffs hit allies, hurt us, and sink America’s own ship.

Trump’s trade war is like trying to grill a hamburger with a blowtorch—it might look like you’re cooking up something big, but all you’re doing is burning the house down. Without putting it in so many words, President Trump says that a $1 trillion U.S. trade deficit means the rest of the world is robbing America blind. He sounds like a man shouting “thief!” in the middle of a bank he owns. The problem with this argument is that it’s only half the story—and a very misleading half at that. While it's true that America imports more than it exports, what Trump conveniently ignores is that American multinational companies aren’t just sitting ducks being ripped off—they are running the global marketplace from behind the curtain.

Let’s look at the facts. U.S. exports of goods and services are about $3.1 trillion. That’s a serious number. But what’s even more serious is that U.S.-owned multinationals and their foreign affiliates make and sell $8.1 trillion worth of goods and services overseas. That’s more than double the exports. These are not traditional exports, but sales generated by American companies that are rooted in foreign soil. They are not shipping hamburgers across the Pacific or sneakers over the Atlantic—they’re making the goods on foreign soil and selling them directly to foreign customers. That’s a trade strategy, not a trade trap.

Let’s talk McDonald’s. You can’t export a Big Mac after you cook it in France. You make it there, and you sell it there. That’s how the golden arches glitter all over the globe. Nike? The swoosh lives in Oregon, but the shoes are stitched in China and laced up in Tokyo. Apple? iPhones may be “Designed in California,” but they’re assembled overseas and sold from Dubai to Durban. Intel? Their chips are cooked up in factories from Israel to Vietnam, and plugged into devices sold around the world. Coca-Cola? Its syrup flows through more than 200 countries, bottling up profits from Mexico to Mozambique. And let’s not forget Procter & Gamble, which sells Tide, Pampers, and Gillette in nearly every country on Earth. General Motors sells more cars in China than it does in the U.S. And Johnson & Johnson earns half its revenue outside America’s borders. These are American giants, not victims.

These companies aren’t being ripped off—they’re setting up shop, building local supply chains, hiring foreign workers, and doing what it takes to dominate foreign markets. They embed themselves in-country. They don’t just leap over trade barriers—they sidestep them entirely. They play the game by building the stadium.

When Trump slaps tariffs on imported steel or Chinese semiconductors, he’s not punishing foreign governments—he’s squeezing the very same American companies that he claims to protect. The tariffs don’t build walls—they raise prices. They don’t boost American factories—they weaken American allies. And in the process, they start trade wars that leave the battlefield scattered with lost opportunities and rising costs.

In 2025, even as Trump doubled down on tariffs, the U.S. goods trade deficit rose to a record-breaking $1.2 trillion. That’s not winning—it’s spinning. The more tariffs he imposed, the more companies rushed to import goods before the penalties kicked in. Businesses scrambled to fill warehouses, inflating the very deficit Trump wanted to shrink. The economy shrank by 0.3% in early 2025. Inflation rose. Consumer spending slowed. And yet, Trump cheered as if he had just saved the economy with a magic wand.

Meanwhile, other countries retaliated. China slapped sky-high duties on U.S. goods, cut back on U.S. tech imports, and threatened rare earth supply chains. Europe grumbled and pushed forward with its own subsidies. And American farmers—who had once been told they’d win “so much they’d get tired of winning”—were drowning in government bailouts. Soybeans rotted in silos. Exporters lost contracts. Industries like auto, manufacturing, and retail faced higher costs, supply chain disruptions, and global uncertainty.

The truth is, Trump’s view of trade is outdated. He treats it like a tug-of-war—someone has to win, someone has to lose. But modern trade is more like a web. Every country is connected. Every product has components that cross borders five, six, or seven times before hitting the shelf. A trade war doesn’t just hurt the enemy—it wounds your own side. It’s like firing a cannon inside a submarine. And when the water starts pouring in, the captain blames the ocean.

Yes, America imports a lot. But Americans also love cheap stuff—cell phones, clothes, TVs, furniture. And yes, there are industries hurt by globalization. But tariffs don’t fix that. Investment, retraining, and smart policy do. Instead of building a fortress, Trump built a moat around America’s own success. He treated the symptoms while ignoring the cause. And the prescription turned out worse than the disease.

American multinationals don't just survive globalization—they thrive in it. They use local labor, dodge tariff walls, access new markets, and generate profits that fuel the U.S. stock market and pension plans. Their global footprint is not a betrayal—it’s a business model. And pretending that a big trade deficit means America is losing is like saying a rich man with lots of credit card bills is broke. You’ve got to look at the assets, not just the debts.

A popular proverb says, “A monkey that eats bananas in the jungle is not stealing from the village.” Trump’s trade rhetoric makes it seem like every foreign-made product is a robbery in progress. But in reality, American companies are the ones climbing the trees and harvesting the bananas themselves.

So when Trump says, “They’re stealing from us,” he’s ignoring the fact that it’s American corporations cashing the biggest checks. His tariffs are a hammer in search of a nail, and he’s swung so wildly that he’s knocked holes in America’s own house.

And now, here we are—caught in the middle of a trade tantrum dressed up as patriotism. As Trump lectures about losing, American multinationals are laughing all the way to the foreign bank. It’s the first trade war in history where the general declares victory while his troops are busy building factories in the enemy’s backyard.

Because nothing says "America First" like Nike shoes made in Vietnam, iPhones assembled in China, and a McDonald’s McSpicy Chicken Sandwich served hot and fresh in Thailand.