The Tariff Tantrum, Trump and the End of Brand America

This week on Mid-Atlantic, Roifield Brown hosts a packed panel to break down Donald Trump's latest economic gamble: a 10% blanket import tariff and steeper levies on select countries, with China squarely in the crosshairs. The result? Global market chaos, retaliatory threats, and international alarm bells over the US’s role in the rules-based economic order.

Joining from across the Atlantic and the US are Logan Phillips in D.C., Michael Donahue in L.A., and Cory Bernard in Manchester. The panel weighs whether the tariff plan is part of a coherent economic strategy or just political theatre aimed at riling up Trump's base — spoiler: coherence is not in attendance. More than just a trade war, this marks a serious erosion of trust in the US as a trading partner. The dollar might be strong, but America's brand value? Not so much.

The second half turns sharply towards the UK's options in a world where the US is a geopolitical liability. Roifield pitches a Commonwealth-centric economic bloc as a post-Brexit survival strategy — cue a full-on diplomatic skirmish. What follows is a clash of economic realism, nostalgia, and pride as the panel debates whether Britain should grovel, realign, or get louder. Yes, tempers flare. And yes, someone gets called Neville Chamberlain.

Five Standout Quotes:

1. “This was not Team Trump’s best moment. It’s like trying to put out a fire with gasoline.” – Logan Phillips
2. “If you know tariffs are coming and then vanishing, there’s billions to be made — and lost. That’s terrifying.” – Michael Donahue
3. “Brand America just took a six-trillion-dollar hit. But it’s the trust deficit that really stings.” – Roifield Brown
4. “Trump won’t lose his base until their wallets feel it. If they can’t feed their families, that’s the break.” – Cory Bernard
5. “I’m not giving away the Sudetenland — I’m trying to build a coalition against economic lunacy.” – Roifield Brown

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