What looks like Trump-era economic nationalism has deeper roots. German nationalists of the 1800s and fascist leaders of the 1930s imagined power through autarky — national self-sufficiency — with consequences that stretched from tariffs to conquest.

Although the “liberation day” measures of April 2024 were hardly a surprise, they still prompted a global stock market crash and volatility on the US bond market. They also exposed a rift among Donald Trump’s entourage. The tech tycoon Elon Musk, a short-lived addition to Trumpism’s libertarian wing, derided trade czar Peter Navarro as being “dumber than a sack of bricks.” MAGA ideologue Steve Bannon punished Musk’s deviation from the party line by jumping to Navarro’s defense and calling for the nationalization of SpaceX.

Navarro is, in man

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