Trump Might Provide Tariff Exemptions for Favored CEOs

Here’s the latest on President Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum:

Peter Navarro, an adviser and the architect of many of Mr. Trump’s campaign trade promises, confirmed on Sunday that the president would not exclude any country from the tariffs but said individual companies could apply for exemptions for certain products.

This is Donald Trump’s dream: having corporate CEOs come to him on their knees, begging for tariff exemptions. And this has other benefits: every CEO in America will say nice things about him because they don’t want to ruin their chances of getting an exemption. And who knows? I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump aides whispered in their ears that maybe they could do a little more than just say nice things.

This is an open door for corruption, which I suppose is why Trump likes it. Nobody else should, though.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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