the free world is being rearranged to new standards of free trade backed by the military power of the free nations --
You seem to be asleep, Hap. What you are witnessing, and Trump is shoving down our collective throat, is not free trade. It is protectionism. And that is why Musk was bitching today. He said HE's a free trade guy, and is apparently disappointed in Trump for doing what he's doing.
Seems no one expected Trump's brilliant ideas to be this stupid. Not even Musk. So did Trump lie to him? And to Bessent and others? I'd be willing to bet he did. Lying is, after all, his thing.
I suggest you spend some time reading up on free trade. Here's a very brief definition. It is the OPPOSITE of what Trump just did:
Free trade is the unrestricted purchase and sale of goods and services between countries without the imposition of constraints such as tariffs, duties, and quotas.
From: Applied Macroeconomics for Public Policy, 2018
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