President Trump's announcement defied most forecasts, demonstrating a greater willingness to follow his instincts even when critics — and some allies — see failure as a likely outcome.
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President Trump announced steep tariffs at a White House ceremony on Wednesday that far exceeded the expectations of many economists and analysts.
Just 10 weeks into his presidency, Trump's appetite for risk seems to know no bounds.
On Wednesday, he imposed sweeping global tariffs despite fears of inflation or, worse, stagflation. But the man who ran for president as a tough dealmaker sounded cavalier last weekend when asked whether he was worried about rising car prices.
“I don't care,” Mr. Trump replied.
It was the latest example of his willingness to take a maximalist stance, essentially defying his opponents. Before the tariffs were announced, he had decided to blow up the global alliance system the United States had spent 80 years building, embassy by embassy, silencing the Voice of America and basically putting the government out of the business of providing food and medical care.
Mr. Trump is more than willing to test the boundaries of 250-year-old democracy to strike back at perceived enemies or dismember parts of the federal government, even if it means risking public health or ignoring due process for immigrants living in the country legally.
And facing daily competition from China in artificial intelligence, space and life sciences, he is willing to risk cutting off funding from America's largest research universities.
To outsiders, including the more than 200,000 Chinese students studying in the United States, these public and private institutions are the shining jewel at the heart of American innovation. To Mr. Trump, they represent what he has called a “radical left” ideology that he is determined to subjugate.
The president’s aides dismiss the idea that they are abandoning expertise or risking basic-research incubators, arguing that taxpayers don’t need to spend billions of dollars on such pursuits. The best talent, they say, will find its way into the private sector, SpaceX-style.
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