根據MS NOW的一篇新文章，美國總統Donald Trump及其政府已不能再堅持認為，他們所面臨的最大災難並非自己所能控制；與過去的總統不同，Trump的經濟困境在很大程度上是「self-inflicted」。

該媒體記者James Downie在週三上午撰文時，提到Trump財政部長Scott Bessent在宣布對伊朗新一輪制裁時的一句話：「Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?」

Downie寫道：「Bessent may think that’s still a self-evidently ridiculous question. George W. Bush didn’t want a Great Financial Crisis, nor did Herbert Hoover seek to start a Great Depression. Surely no White House would deliberately hurt the global economy. Yet for the first time ever, that’s not the case. At home and abroad, the past few days have laid bare the extent to which President Trump’s troubles on the economy are self-inflicted.」

Downie表示，最新一波債市驚慌是由國債突破40 trillion美元所引發，這一點凸顯了問題所在。他寫道，這個令人不安的里程碑，源自Trump在兩個任期內推動的大規模減稅，並得到一位共和黨前任總統的協助。MS NOW另一篇近期文章中，稅務專家Bobby Kogan也主張：「it is a mathematical truth that had the [George W.] Bush and Trump tax cuts never been enacted, the U.S. debt ratio would be declining indefinitely.」

Downie續寫，Trump最近宣布將允許30萬噸ground beef免關稅進入美國，也等於承認其關稅政策的現實：由美國消費者承擔成本，而不是向美國出口商品的國家。這一點很重要，因為即使白宮如今為某些商品作出例外安排，承認關稅會對價格造成壓力，關稅爭議仍已成為政府描繪通膨與供應成本的核心。

Downie寫道，在政府兩個最大的問題——伊朗與加拿大貿易戰——上，白宮甚至無法聲稱自己是在試圖「mitigate the damage.」

Downie解釋說：「The human toll of the Iran war is terrible enough: tens of thousands of Iranians and nearly 800 U.S. service members killed or wounded. With the president bored and frustrated at being unable to bomb his way to peace, the administration is betting on new sanctions – and threats of new sanctions against other countries – to secure Tehran’s capitulation. But the Strait of Hormuz is not open, oil prices are still high, and the knock-on effects are spreading beyond the gas pump. 'Companies say they are raising prices on products ranging from french fries and beer to paint and packaging to offset their own rising commodity and freight costs,' the Wall Street Journal reported last month.」

他補充說：「At the same time, the White House has restarted its trade war with Canada. The two countries announced billions in new tariffs, which will make products more expensive on both sides of the border. Though the U.S. may be far larger, as economist Paul Krugman wrote, 'the U.S. economy is far more dependent on Canadian goods than most Americans realize.' For instance, Canada exports millions of barrels a day of oil to the upper Midwest and enough electricity to power some two million homes in Maine – to pick but two examples that may affect key Senate races.」