A trade war with the rest of the world? Stupid as it sounds, Donald Trump may have actually waged one.

Using dubious economic logic, Trump has promised to close the U.S. trade deficit. But in doing so, is he also pushing the global economy to the brink of recession? Is there any coherent rationale for bullying your largest trading partners and upending decades of trade policy that helped make America the richest country in the world? And how do we make sense of the fact that Trump won the election promising to reduce inflation—but now seems hell-bent on worsening it?

To discuss these themes, I’m joined by Paul Poast, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. Professor Poast is also a fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a foreign affairs columnist for World Politics Review.

The Rationale is hosted by Kshitij Betjewargi.

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