Why Is He Doing This?

Today I’m writing for The Big Picture substack. If you’re new to my newsletter, about once a week I pen a longer thought piece for a “sister publication” put out by my team at The Social Edge—a company I co-founded more than a dozen years ago that, among other things, manages the social media for actor and activist George Takei.

My piece out later this afternoon takes on a decidedly “big picture” question. We’ve read a lot lately about how bad tariffs will be for the economy. And we’ve heard Trump’s statements about why he is imposing them (Fentanyl! Migrants!) along with his truly wild statements about annexing Canada as the 51st state.

I wanted to explore the deeper question of why Trump has decided to levy tariffs against our friends, against all the advice of economic experts, and at great risk to the economy. I lay out three of the general theories I’ve seen. And while it’s always dicey to try and get inside that orange head of his, I’m going to make a valiant attempt because the stakes are so high that we simply must try to understand what’s motivating him.

Look for my piece out this afternoon. If you’re already subscribed, you should see it in your inbox. If you’re not, today’s a good time to sign up! It’s free of charge, but we do appreciate anyone who’d like to voluntarily support our work.

I’ll check back in with many of you later today at The Big Picture.

Jay