Trump Is Treating America Like an Emerging Market

Trump Is Treating America Like an Emerging Market

Trump's economic program has damaged many weaker economies and makes even less sense for the United States

A pickup truck drives on the Trans-Amazonian highway under construction near Ruropolis, Brazil on September 7, 2019. September 2, 2025, 4:25 PM Comment icon View Comments ( )

Trump’s Second Term

Ongoing reports and analysis

Much has been made of U.S. President Donald Trump’s rapid embrace of the tools of state capitalism. Yet while Trump has made clear his desire to emulate President Xi Jinping’s iron grip on China’s economy and citizens, Trump’s economy looks less like a centrally planned industrial strategy than a third-rate emerging market.

Whether embracing tariffs, demanding equity in private companies, conditionin