Flattery and Tariffs: The Politics of Praise

After President Trump’s supposed tariff “pause,” we still have a 10 percent tariff on most global imports, the trade war with China is intensifying, and markets have plunged again. Fox News figures are aggressively spinning the “pause” as sheer brilliance, propping up Trump’s own posture that he’s got everything running according to plan. Then a Fox correspondent told the truth: Trump got spooked by the bond markets. This shattered Trump’s illusion of command. Meanwhile, his cabinet members are slathering him with desperate flattery, even as Trump voters in focus groups are getting antsy and MAGA personalities are balking. We talked to historian Nicole Hemmer, the author of books on the right wing media and on conservative politics. She explains the deeper reasons for the right’s extraordinary turn toward Trump sycophancy—and why the tensions inside MAGA will worsen.

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