“You’ll be saying: I’m tired of winning!” That was the promise Donald Trump made to his supporters if re-elected president. Yet, just 80 days into his second term, the reality is far from triumphant. In fact, the economic chaos currently unfolding seems more like an April Fool’s joke than a strategic vision.

The Peter Navarro Farce

One name has been at the center of the debate around tariffs: Peter Navarro. But who exactly is Trump’s economic advisor? To many, he’s nothing short of a fraud. According to MSNBC, Navarro was handpicked by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, not for his credentials, but for one very modern metric: the number of books he sold on Amazon. Intrigued by Navarro’s protectionist ideas, Kushner reached out, and before long, the bestselling author found himself advising the President of the United States.

But it gets worse. In one of his books, Navarro supports his views by citing an economist named Ron Vara. The catch? Ron Vara doesn’t exist. In fact, « Ron Vara » is just an anagram of « Navarro »—a fictional persona created to bolster his own arguments. This is the man advising the world’s most powerful economy. Navarro, who has never provided any serious academic evidence to justify the effectiveness of tariffs, was even summoned to testify before Congress in 2021 over his role in the Capitol events—an invitation he ignored, earning him a four-month prison sentence.

A Historic Financial Meltdown

With an advisor like this, a protectionist theory based purely on personal beliefs, and Trump’s trademark “tough guy” diplomacy, it’s little wonder the global economy is reeling. Monday, April 7, 2025, saw one of the worst trading days since the COVID-19 crisis. Upon the announcement of sweeping new tariffs affecting most of the world—China especially—markets went into free fall. The Paris Stock Exchange dropped 5.2% within an hour of opening, Frankfurt plummeted by 6.3%, but the worst was in Hong Kong, with a staggering 13.22% loss. In response, Trump urged American investors, “Don’t be stupid! Don’t panic!”—hardly a calming message. Despite a brief rally sparked by rumors of a tariff pause, Wall Street was quick to tumble again.

Confusion and a U.S.-China Trade War

Trump’s sudden announcement on April 9 to suspend some tariffs only deepened the sense of disarray. Markets remained wary, especially as China was conspicuously excluded from the pause. In Trump’s eyes, China remains public enemy number one in his trade war, no matter the cost. Unsurprisingly, Beijing retaliated with 125% tariffs on American goods. And while Trump wages this scorched-earth trade campaign, China continues to strengthen its position in emerging markets across Africa and the Middle East—territories where the U.S. influence is waning fast. The United States now finds itself increasingly isolated, even imposing tariffs on places like the uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands (home only to penguins), though notably not on Russia. In what looks more and more like a losing game, Trump’s tariff blitz is pushing the U.S. closer to economic irrelevance—leaving the door wide open for China to seize the mantle of global leadership, ironically aided by the self-destructive policies of the man in the Oval Office.

Insider Trading?

Insider trading is when an investor profits from confidential information not yet made public. The erratic rollout of Trump’s tariff policy has raised eyebrows, with some suggesting the president or his inner circle may have taken advantage of the market chaos. It wouldn’t be the first time: years earlier, Trump’s unofficial right-hand man had already received a warning from the SEC for tweeting market-moving statements about Tesla.

So, did Trump pull off something similar, only on a global scale? That’s what some Democrats suspect. Senator Adam Schiff is now calling for a formal investigation into potential insider trading involving the president and his allies. The timing is certainly curious: on April 9—the very day the tariff pause was announced—Trump’s social media company, Trump Media Group, saw its stock surge by nearly 23%. Coincidence, or calculated move?

Incompetence or corruption? Either possibility is alarming. One thing is clear: it’s deeply troubling that a single person’s impulsive decisions can shake the financial stability of the entire world.

Automated translation via IA.

Sources: MSNBC, Le Monde, RFI, The New York Times.

Picture: History in HD, free of use.