Skip to main content

TOP OF THE DAY by Howard Polskin

Apr. 9, 2025

Greetings! Skunk fight! Elon Musk and Trump tariff architect Peter Navarro are battling publicly and that ain’t good for Trumpworld.  Press secretary Karoline Leavitt tried brushing it off as “boys will be boys.”  I am no fan of Leavitt, but I would never call her stupid. However, this was a stupid phrase that minimizes a serious administration rupture with grave consequences for the global economy and our wallets.  The Wall Street Journal has a much more informed take on the battle of MAGA heavyweights and comes down favoring Elon Musk.  “He isn’t a flunky whom Mr. Trump can consign to oblivion by firing, and he’s saying things the President ought to hear,” the WSJ’s editorial board opines. “He represents the aspirational wing of MAGA-land that is the best part of Trumponomics”…American Spectator and City Journal have joined the growing chorus of conservative media outlets against Trump’s destructive tariff policies.  “Trump’s goal of reciprocal trade is a false promise, based neither on economic laws nor market reality,” wrote Spectator authors Bob Luddy and Michael Romero.  “His arbitrary tariffs are causing an immediate meltdown of the world’s financial markets and a loss of confidence in the American government.” City Journal’s Brian Albrecht points out that tariffs didn’t ignite American economic growth in the 19th century and they won’t today either…And finally, for all the fans of the just-concluded brilliant third season of HBO’s “White Lotus,” a Washington Examiner writer explains that the show has a surprising “conservative heart” because of its emphasis on the value of family. Hadn’t considered that point…If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard