From a July 12, 2025 article at APNews.com:
President Donald Trump on Saturday announced he’s levying tariffs of 30% against the European Union and Mexico starting Aug. 1, a move that could cause massive upheaval between the United States and two of its biggest trade partners.
Trump detailed the planned tariffs in letters posted to his social media account. They are part of an announcement blitz by Trump of new tariffs aimed at allies and foes alike, a bedrock of his 2024 campaign that he said would set the foundation for reviving a U.S. economy that he claims has been ripped off by other nations for decades.
President Trump’s decision appears to be unprovoked. Not much has recently changed in the relationships between the United States and the European Union, nor the U.S. and Mexico.
So what put a bee in the president’s bonnet?
I think Mr. Trump is attempting a misdirection. A little sleight of hand, to distract the MAGA supporters who are angry about his administration’s claims that Jeffrey Epstein never had a client list, and that he killed himself in his jail cell.
During his 2024 campaign, candidate Donald Trump promised the voters transparency. Now, it looks like he likes the temperature of the water in the swamp.
This is another example of the “tail wagging the dog.” The president announced another round of tariffs to distract the media from a potentially damaging report.
CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou believes that Jeffrey Epstein was an Israeli intelligence asset, and President Trump is protecting Israel by denying the release of the Epstein files.
Perhaps we’ll never know.
ChatGPT generated that header image for me.