Jim Loscalzo/ZUMA
Donald Trump’s tariffs are wreaking havoc on the global economy while millions of Americans—including some of his own advisers—are furious.
Even as many voters watch their retirement and education savings vacillate wildly, MAGA World maintains the president knows exactly what he’s doing—it’s just “the art of the deal,” they say. But as our new video explainer points out, history tells a very different story.
Trump loves to reference the times in American history when tariff rates were much higher, pledging to usher in a new Golden Age. Trump’s hero, William McKinley, was the epitome of a pro-tariff president, and is a fixture of his speeches. But even a quick look at the facts doesn’t support Trump’s nostalgia for the 1890s.
The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 was both a political and economic disaster. Republicans lost four Senate seats and 86 House seats, and despite Trump’s praise of McKinley as the “tariff king,” the US economy soon plunged into a depression from 1893-96.
McKinley’s tariff policies aren’t the only red flag in history. Some experts contend that the global economic instability created by America’s tariff policies in the 1930s played a role in increased tensions around the world, including militarism in Japan and the rapid deterioration of Germany’s economy and democracy.
Today’s economy is far more interconnected than ever—and Trump as unpredictable—rendering any prediction futile. What we do know is that Trump is succeeding at one of his objectives: Churning up chaos to get his way.
