“China is eating the Tariffs.” Billions pouring into USA. Targeted Patriot Farmers getting massive Dollars from the incoming Tariffs! Good Jobs Numbers, No Inflation(Fed). China having worst year in decades. Talks happening, good for all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2019
It would be easy to just say Trump is lying when he claims that China rather than Americans are paying for his tariffs and leave it at that, but this is more than that.
By continuously claiming that China is paying for his tariffs, Trump is creating an alternate reality that he must perpetuate because it will illustrate that he was lying all along if he doesn't.
He's backing himself into a corner where admitting that his trade war is causing any harm at all is to admit that everything he has ever said about it was a lie. We've already seen the White House leak to the media that they're considering passing new tax cuts to bolster the slowing economy only for Trump to contradict his own staff and say they're not considering tax cuts because the economy is already great. The Great Economy doesn't need a tax cut.
Perpetuating this alternate reality also makes it less likely that he will delay future tariffs because there's no reason not to, right? Everything is fine. Actually, everything is not just fine -- everything is "good," Trump says. It's "Good for all!"
I'm forced to wonder if the Trump White House would even agree or admit it if the economy enters recession next year. Will they admit there's a recession, or simply call it fake news?
It's not hard to me to picture Trump going to war with his own Labor and Commerce Departments when the numbers turn negative.