Tariffs On? Or Tariffs Off? Or What?

Are the walls there. Or not?

So as I write this (on May 12) Trump has announced a temporary suspension of tariffs against China, and he’s trumpeting the suspension as a great victory and a feat of deal-making.

But, also as I write this, experts are not convinced that the suspension isn’t just a short-term measure, and that America has gained anything for all the effort (other than a titanic embarrassment internationally), and that the deal won’t collapse in the end. (See The U.S. and China make a deal on trade. Here's what analysts are saying: Stocks are rallying, but this victory looks hollow, analysts and economists say — and it might not last, By Catherine Baab, Quartz)

So, by the time you read this (I’m scheduling it for May 23), pretty much everything may have changed. Probably for the worst.

But maybe that’s the point. Maybe the theory is that if he just keeps talking, just keeps blithering, people won’t notice what a disaster he really is.

Not even when we all end hungry, selling blood to survive, and offering kidneys for the transplant market.