Day 7: The Quiet Before the Storm

So it's lunchtime on day 7, and it's been an eerily quiet day for news. I've only really found one story worth highlighting so far.

• Senior management at the State Department resign en mass. Taking their institutional knowledge with them.

Picking up for the rest of the day (still a very quiet day, news-wise)...

The only real story from today was the administration's first international relations blunder, in a dispute with Mexico over Trump's "wall" (aka ego). After some diplomacy via twitter, Mexico cancelled a scheduled meeting, and the administration decided to retaliate by proposing a 20% import tariff on Mexican goods. This of course led to an outcry and some backpedalling. The NY Times has a good overview of the events. Note the gaslighting (get used to this word, it's going to come up a lot!) that the administration is continuously up to: Trump said “Unless Mexico is going to treat us fairly and with respect, such a meeting would be fruitless, we have to go a different route.”

What would a 20% tariff do? It would increase the price of Mexican goods for American consumers. So, who would pay for that wall? Americans. To quote Wikipedia: "Typical analyses find that tariffs tend to benefit domestic producers and government at the expense of consumers, and that the net welfare effects of a tariff on the importing country are negative."

• I missed this in the executive order from yesterday (day before?): Trump wants to enroll local law enforcement agencies into immigration enforcement. This is a very short step away from "Papers, please" (in your best German accent).
• Top Whitehouse strategist Bannon told media: "The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile. I want you to quote this. The media here is the opposition party. They don't understand this country." Because first amendment rights are here to be trampled on. Also, framing journalists as the enemy... hmm. Now where have we seen that before?
• US downgraded from "Full Democracy" to "Flawed Democracy". The world is paying attention!
• Jezebel: Welcome to Chaos. A holistic overview of the past week.