The entrepreneurial thought “there’s got to be a better way to do this” has been the catalyst of innovation over the course of time. Diseases have been cured, skyscrapers have been built and effortless forms of transportation have been invented all because someone was willing to challenge the status quo.
With more than $4 trillion worth of mounting stock market losses, cratering economic relationships around the globe and a toxic marriage forming with Vladimir Putin, one can only hope President Donald Trump is starting to ask himself: There’s got to be a better way to do this?
In just a few weeks, Trump’s “ready, fire, aim” tariff strategy has blasted economic shrapnel around the globe. Our nation’s largest employers are being forced to retreat deep into their corporate bunkers to plan for what must feel like a hostage situation. The whipsawing chaos was initially off-gassed by the Trump administration as a negotiating tactic, but two months in, the strong stench of economic ignorance is starting to become more evident.
In a CBS interview last week, Berkshire Hathaway CEO and highly respected billionaire investor Warren Buffett said tariffs over time serve as a tax on goods and could raise prices for consumers. He additionally went on to say, “Tariffs are actually — we’ve had a lot of experience with them, they’re an act of war, to some degree.” I’m guessing Buffett thinks there’s a better way to do this, and I agree.
Trump needs to immediately put his half-baked global tariffs idea back on the shelf and stop acting like a neighborhood bully. Outside of a few niches, nobody in America wants or needs the tariffs to thrive. It is becoming more apparent by the hour they are an unproductive solution in search of a problem. Tariffs are a time-tested failure, akin to peeing in your pants for the sole purpose of staying warm.
Unlike tariffs, the concept of DOGE is elite, but the implementation has been pathetic. Turns out throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks continues to be a bad way to make important decisions. Elon Musk had the most clearly defined job description when he joined the administration: reduce waste, fraud and abuse within the massively bloated U.S. government. What could go wrong?
Houston, we have a problem.
Despite his opulent resume, Musk was a bad hire, and the country knows it. A recent CNN/SSRS poll released shows an increasing majority of Americans are growing skeptical of Musk’s ability to influence government policy. Nearly 62% now believe he lacks the right experience to make meaningful changes, while 61% feel he does not have the right judgment to do so. Sounds like Americans think there’s a better way to do this, and I agree.
If Trump is serious about getting America’s fiscal house in order, he needs to fire Musk and hire someone less bombastic with a more well-rounded skill set to start legitimately cutting into our $36 trillion national debt crisis. The job skills necessary to scourge hundreds of billions of dollars out of federal spending are above even Musk’s pay grade. It requires an economic surgeon well versed in using all of the available tools in the operating room, not just the chain saw. A mature minded global CEO type, capable of wrapping a legitimate restructuring process around the massive cost cutting efforts should immediately replace Elon in the operating room, before the patient dies on the table.
While we are on the topic of common sense, can we please find a better way to promote world peace than playing footsies with Putin, one of the world’s most notorious tyrants? Credit to the Trump administration for prioritizing an end to the war in Ukraine, but the sobering realities of an emboldened Putin are starting to settle in. According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 36% of Americans now approve of Trump’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war.
This should be easy math for Trump, but unfortunately, it’s not. His lack of respect for Putin’s barbaric actions continue to be a disgusting blind spot as illustrated by his comments over the weekend aboard Air Force One. “I believe if it wasn’t for me they would be, they wouldn’t be here any longer,” Trump said of the Ukrainians.
His use of the word “me” should be troubling to anyone who calls themselves an American, even if you voted for him.
Credit: Geoff Duncan
Credit: Geoff Duncan
An AJC contributor, Geoff Duncan served as Georgia’s lieutenant governor from 2019 to 2023. He is a former professional baseball player and the author of “GOP 2.0: How the 2020 Election Can Lead to a Better Way Forward for America’s Conservative Party.” He also is a contributor to CNN.
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