Apr 16th, 2025, 5:53 pm
Apr 16th, 2025, 5:53 pm
President Trump went on another tirade about former presidents in an interview at the Oval Office. The current president believes that the leaders before him allowed China to “take advantage” of the United States.
Last Thursday, April 10, President Trump claimed that China has been “ripping” America off for years. “This started with the World Trade Organization (WTO), which was owned by China. It was owned and paid for,” Trump said. While the claim about the WTO is factually incorrect, Trump went on to accuse former United States presidents of stupidity.
“I blame the people sitting at this desk more than I blame China. If China can get away with what they got away with… because the people here were stupid, they were stupid people. Maybe corrupt? I don’t know how you get to be that stupid,” Trump rambled against his predecessors. He also believes that the former presidents “weren’t courageous” for allegedly letting other countries “take advantage” of the United States.
There’s a lot to unpack here. It’s not negligible for Trump to speak ill of former presidents from his country—it’s politicking at best and distasteful at worst. There appears to be a deliberate attempt at framing his move for tariffs as ‘bold’ or ‘courageous.’ China and other trading partners are capable of biting back with their tariffs to escalate the trade war. Trump allies are yet to buckle, but American citizens are paying the price for a weakening dollar and an ailing economy. No doubt, bravery and foolhardiness often teeter on a fine line. But presidents are humans prone to making terrible lapses in judgment; Trump is not the exception he thinks he is.
A repulsion against free trade
The WTO caught Trump’s lashing during the press conference as ‘bought and paid for’ by China. The reality is that the WTO is no more than a negotiating forum. To put it simply, the WTO facilitates international trade through a set of rules. Naturally, this international organization promotes free trade and lower tariffs—something that the Trump administration is clearly not fond of.
Nevertheless, free trade has always been the policy of the previous United States administration since former President Franklin Roosevelt took office to reverse the high tariffs from the Great Depression. There’s admittedly much to be improved regarding free trade, including the working conditions and rights of laborers abroad. But President Trump’s chief concern is that the United States is being ‘ripped off,’ even if the country has benefited from free trade through the decades.
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