An Economic Crisis of Trump's Own Making

Well, it finally happened. The Wall Street darlings—the ones who usually toss rose petals at the feet of Republican tax slashers—just threw a brick through the front window of Trump’s economic fantasyland. Goldman Sachs, the very temple of American capitalism, just announced that Donald Trump’s reign of incompetence could cost the United States $90 billion. That’s billion—with a B. And what’s to blame? Not immigrants. Not socialism. Not drag queens or wind turbines. Nope. It’s Trump’s own policies. His xenophobia. His tariffs. His tantrums. His endless quest to make America hated again.

Let’s be crystal clear. This isn’t just a PR problem. This is a gut punch to working-class Americans who depend on tourism, exports, and goodwill from people around the world. What did you think was going to happen when the President started jailing tourists, banning professors, and turning airports into international hostage zones? Families don’t want their vacations to end in a holding cell. Students don’t want to study in a country run by a paranoid lunatic. And travelers from Europe? They’re not coming to the U.S. to be treated like suspected terrorists at JFK. They’re staying the hell away—and they’re taking their money with them.

Hotels in New York and San Francisco are already feeling it. National parks are seeing fewer visitors. Theme parks are bracing for a summer drop. Some areas that rely almost entirely on European summer tourists are reporting bookings down 25%—and that’s just the beginning. Canadian summer reservations are down 70%. That’s not a dip. That’s a collapse. That’s a five-alarm fire for entire regions of the country that survive off seasonal income. And the man holding the gas can is the one shouting “America First” from a podium made of lies.

And what are we getting in return for this scorched-earth diplomacy? A couple of bumper stickers about “fair trade” and a fantasyland of empty promises. Trump’s tariffs are a disaster. Prices are soaring, foreign demand is drying up, and our farmers, our manufacturers, and our exporters are left holding the bag. We’re not punishing China—we’re punishing ourselves. And the rest of the world is watching, shaking their heads, and finding new places to spend their money. France isn’t taking MAGA bucks. Japan isn’t booking conference centers in Miami. Norway’s literally cutting off oil sales to us because we’re too cozy with Putin. This is what losing looks like.

Goldman Sachs—again, not Bernie Sanders, not The Squad, not MSNBC—says this could knock a full 0.3% off our GDP. That’s a $90 billion nosedive. That’s real jobs. That’s real wages. That’s real tax revenue gone. Trump’s “Golden Age” isn’t gold at all. Its rusted tin spray-painted in MAGA red, flaking off under the weight of corruption and cruelty. You can’t scream “BUILD THE WALL” on the global stage and expect the rest of the world to hand you a mojito and a five-star Yelp review.

This is what happens when you let a sociopathic brand mascot cosplay as a president. He doesn’t care about diplomacy. He doesn’t understand economics. He thinks trade deals are bar fights and foreign policy is a reality show. Meanwhile, real people suffer. Tour guides lose their jobs. Local shops shut their doors. Farmers go bankrupt. And the man responsible is too busy posting AI-generated memes to notice—or care.

So, let’s call it what it is: an economic crisis of Trump’s own making. Not because of immigration. Not because of regulation. But because he turned the United States into an international cautionary tale. This is not a strong country. This is a paranoid, unstable wreck bleeding money, respect, and opportunity. And unless we end this MAGA experiment before it gets worse, we’ll be stuck selling knockoff souvenirs in the ruins of what used to be a world power.

-Brent Molnar, FB Thread