U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariff campaign and the rising influence of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) over his policies are ripping the American federation apart.
Weaponizing Aid: Disaster Relief Tied to Foreign Allegiances
This shocking move has been criticized by people from every faction of life, including media and legal scholars, in the United States. Numerous US Constitutional experts declared this decision a sheer violation of the separation between state and federal powers. Political commentators accuse the Trump administration of weaponising the US disaster aid for political maneuvering. This move has intensified the already prevalent US citizens’ mistrust of federal institutions.
Economic Nationalism or Economic Warfare?
Through this directive, President Trump has crossed every constitutional boundary that the US citizens could tolerate. Moreover, this move has exposed the growing influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other pro-Israel lobbies, now collectively contributing over $100 million annually in lobbying, on US politicians. Journalists and intellectuals are openly criticizing the rising influence of these lobbies in the United States. Thus, it would be cogent to say that the US lawmakers are highly compromised, a claim that has been boosted by the increasing influence of foreign intelligence leverage over the US establishment.
The tale of Trump’s betrayal of the United States does not end here. He also imposed restrictions on the lower class of American society, those relying on the government’s social security, disaster aid, and healthcare programs. The recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill has slashed Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion and imposed stringent work-reporting regulations. These restrictions undermine healthcare access for nearly 10 million US citizens and lead the already hard-pressed rural hospitals in the country towards default, especially in backward states.
Trump’s tariff tsunami has dealt another blow to the middle and lower-class American citizens. President Trump, under his economic nationalism campaign, has imposed extensive duties, ranging from 15% to 55%, on imports from almost 70 countries – including allies like India. China is hit with the heaviest trade tariffs in US history. The average tax rate on imports in the US has reached 19 percent, the highest since the Great Depression. These tariffs are directly hurting the US citizens economically. Americans are losing up to $3,800 a year just trying to keep up with overpriced clothes, outrageous car costs, and grocery bills that keep climbing.
Demographic and Diplomatic Downfall
Trump’s tariffs hurt American citizens more than foreign exporters. Though tariffs start with importers, it’s everyday Americans who foot the final bill as the costs trickle down to retailers and land in consumers’ laps. Reports suggest that 60 percent of the burden of these tariffs directly falls on US households, intensifying economic inequalities in the country. The recent downward trend in the U.S. market validates these reports. At the start of this month, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq fell 1.6 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively, and the Dow Jones dropped 542 points due to rising prices, threat of foreign retaliation, and low job growth in the country. Moreover, farmers, small business owners, and local retailers are facing declining margins while multinational companies with offshore operations remain ineffective due to these rising and unprecedented import tariffs.
These steps have been criticized by many American observers. Many countries are already converting their reserves into non-dollar assets, leading to the decline of the dollar hegemony. The US national debt stands at $36 trillion, putting the country’s sovereignty in danger. The majority of US citizens have sympathies for Palestinians. However, Trump clings to his unwavering support for a war criminal and genocidal state, compromising his much-touted MAGA project and going against the popular anti-Israel narrative in the country. The pain of the uneven distribution of US funding and aid is not being felt by every state right now. However, such policies will haunt every American household soon. Trump’s contemporary policies will continue to negatively impact the country for years after the end of his tenure.
Taut Bataut is a researcher and writer that publishes on South Asian geopolitics
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