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The Ineptitude of Trumponomics

Yes, Trump’s insane, rambling, nonsensical dissembling at the Economic Club of New York was the latest evidence of his declining acuity. But it was also yet another example of his terrible understanding of simple business concepts.

donald trump
Under Trump’s watch, of course, he increased the national debt from $24 trillion to $31 trillion, a fact that he conveniently overlooked. Photo: Sean Rayford/Getty Images
William D. Cohan
September 8, 2024

I wasn’t allowed in the room for Donald Trump’s hour-plus monologue at the Economic Club of New York on Thursday (“space limitations,” I was told), but I watched the highly scripted proceedings on Zoom, much to my regret. There will be no “sanewashing” here. It was appalling, to say the least, as Trump delivered assertion after assertion that could only be described as abject lies—all adding up to a “word salad,” as my friend Stephanie Ruhle tweeted—to a fawning crowd. “Despite the audience knowing it was a plate full of empty calories that may cause food poisoning,” Stephanie noted, “they ate it up.”