Trump believes the trade deficit the US has with Canada means the US subsidizes Canada. There's no need to explain why this is idiotic. But this is what the electorate wanted and this is what it will get.

The downfall of civilization comes from a lack of virtues. Under populism, my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge if not better.

The difference between the Reagan and the Trump eras is very stark indeed. A powerful external adversary forced America to refrain from getting stupid.

The most worrying aspect of the Trump administration is how it seeks to dismantle checks and balances. The separation of powers exists for a very good reason. Under the current administration the executive branch aims to overpower the legislative and the judicial branches. The legislative branch is currently narrowly held by the Republicans who are terrified of Trump and Musk and allow him to do anything they want. The judicial branch is under attack with Musk publishing personal information of a family member of a federal judge ruling against the interests of Musk who's acting like a co-president. Rhetorically the judiciary has been constantly under attack. This will intensify going forward.

For two and a half centuries, the US used to have a pretty good system where all the politicians were kept fighting each other in a balanced system with peaceful transfer of presidency every four years and that of the federal legislative partially every two years. That way, politicians were kept from interfering with the lives of the people too much. Now all bets are off.

Trump's threats against long-standing allied countries are deeply troubling and highly abnormal. Him talking about ethnically cleansing Gaza and taking over the territory is unprecedented for a POTUS.

A lot of crypto heads believe all this is great. Number go up is all they care about. The rule of law be damned. Naked imperialism? Bring it on! In fact, what exactly will happen to the number in this bull cycle is uncertain. Trump's trade wars likely jeopardize the economy by causing inflation to rise considerably possibly forcing the Fed to raise interest rates.

The effect will be global. If and when US imports slow down and inflation picks up, export oriented economies across the world will suffer and face recession. That will weaken their currencies vs. the dollar. A strong dollar is bad for all risk-on assets such as stocks, Bitcoin and other crypto assets in particular.