in Maine
August 1, 2025
Okay, he doesn’t mean to save democracies around the world but he just might.
Take Brazil.
Trump likes Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro tried to overthrow the government when he lost an election.
Trump has threatened Brazil with tariffs if they don’t drop the charges against Bolsonaro.
This has resulted in the more liberal candidate being lifted from below water to winning.
There are a few things to point out:
1. If a government says someone or some entity has to pay money that’s called a tax.
Trump saying he will impose tariffs is a tax.
2. All of Trump’s tariffs are illegal because he doesn’t have the authority to impose them. Congress does.
In the case of Brazil they are super per illegal because you/we/he can’t impose a tax on another country for their internal political machinations.
But tariffs are actually taxes on the people whose government is imposing the tariffs.
To prove that Trump knows this he has created a carve out for orange juice, which we get a lot of from Brazil.
3. Only 12% of Brazil’s trade is with the U.S. Do you think they care?
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