Trump's Tariff Talk Isn't About Trade --- It's About Revenge

He's Banking On Us To Bleed For His Ego

By Don Lemon

It’s been a week that felt like a warning. The guardrails are coming off — in our courts, in our politics, and now in our economy. And in the middle of it all, Donald Trump is threatening to throw a match on the system he once swore to lead. But let’s be clear: this isn’t about trade. This is about power. And revenge.

Let’s not get it twisted: Trump’s latest tariff threats aren’t about protecting American workers or rebalancing global trade. They’re about something darker. They’re about vengeance.

And after a week where the rule of law was dragged through the mud, billionaires bought bigger megaphones to drown out truth, and institutions designed to protect democracy felt more fragile than ever — these tariffs fit the moment perfectly. They’re not strategy. They’re spectacle.

Because Trump doesn’t think like a policymaker. He thinks like a man who believes he’s been wronged — and who sees every tool of government as a weapon to wield in return. A 10% universal tariff on all imports? That’s not sound policy. That’s a threat — one that punishes American consumers far more than any foreign country.

It’s not targeted. It’s not strategic. It’s designed to cause disruption. And Trump knows it.

But that’s the point.

This is grievance politics, weaponized. Policy as punishment. A man lashing out at a world he can’t control, and using the rest of us — our jobs, our bank accounts, our everyday lives — as leverage.

If Trump feels cornered, he doesn’t pivot. He escalates.

We saw it this week — in courtrooms, on cable news, and in the halls of Congress. The chaos isn’t accidental. It’s the operating system now. Trump doesn’t just survive it. He sells it.

And now, with these tariffs, he wants you to pay for it — again.

Because here’s the truth: he won’t feel the inflation. He won’t lose a paycheck. He won’t skip a meal. The costs won’t touch him.

He gets the spotlight. He gets the power. He gets the pleasure of watching it all burn — and of knowing you’re the one left in the smoke.

He’s banking on us to bleed for his ego — and still cheer while we do, because pain was always part of the performance.