Bulwark Takes — Episode Summary

Podcast: Bulwark Takes
Episode: Trump’s New Tariffs Make Life WAY More Expensive
Date: September 30, 2025
Hosts: JVL (Jonathan V. Last) and Andrew Egger

Episode Overview

In this brisk, biting conversation, JVL and Andrew Egger analyze the chaos and far-reaching consequences of Donald Trump’s latest round of tariffs. They unpack both the slapdash policymaking and the deeper implications for American consumers, small businesses, farmers, and the global economic order. The hosts also critique the political and psychological underpinnings enabling the policy—and forecast the lasting damage beyond mere “kitchen table issues.”

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Overview of Tariff Expansion

• Trump has announced sweeping new tariffs, including a 100% tariff on foreign movies and aggressive action targeting the furniture industry.
• The volatility of the trade regime results in widespread economic shock and confusion both domestically and abroad.
• JVL frames Trump’s economic policies as “stove touching”—policy moves so obviously self-defeating that they’re fascinating to watch.

  “I like nothing more than watching people touch the hot stove.” — JVL [00:38]

2. Analysis of the New Movie and Furniture Tariffs

• The movie tariff is “nonsensical”—movies as a service are hard to tariff; the logistics are unexplained and seemingly unworkable.

  “Movies are not a good. Movies are a service.” — JVL [04:31] “100% tariff on movies, man. Just figure it out.” — Andrew [05:55]

• The new furniture tariff plan may punish any country that refuses to buy all of its furniture from the US; Andrew highlights the surrealism of this as a policy proposal.

  “If you, any country out there, do not consent to start buying your furniture immediately from our great North Carolina furniture manufacturers, we are going to put a retaliatory tariff on you for that.” — Andrew [03:30]

3. Potential Supreme Court Intervention

• The hosts debate whether the Supreme Court will block Trump’s tariffs, with JVL cynically arguing that the Court acts on political impulses, not legal principles.

  “Let me tell you a little secret, Andrew... The Supreme Court is always just politics.” — JVL [07:54] “It only takes one counterexample to disprove that.” — Andrew [08:13]

4. Replaying the Soybean Saga and Bailouts

• Trump’s trade wars have harmed American farmers—especially soybean producers—by inviting devastating Chinese retaliation.

• Bailouts have made entire sectors dependent on federal handouts.

  “China’s coming and calling. If you’re an Argentinian farmer, it’s just like, great, right?... I can pants the American farmer that much worse this time.” — Andrew [12:54]

• JVL calls out the hypocrisy and racial coding in how these bailouts are characterized:

  “Is that welfare, or is it only welfare when it goes to black and brown people?” — JVL [10:43]

5. Tariffs as an End-Run Around Congress and Fiscal Controls

• JVL explains the sinister advantage tariffs give Trump by funneling money directly into the executive’s hands, circumventing Congress.

  “The tariff money goes straight to the US treasury and is the purview of the executive branch. So that becomes, in a sense, essentially Trump’s private financing for whatever he wants.” — JVL [15:16]

6. Public Perception, Denial, and Political Psychology

• The hosts probe whether Americans are simply uninformed (“dumb as a bag of rocks”) or willfully blind about tariff consequences.

• Andrew and JVL reference both everyday small business owners and supposedly savvy Wall Street traders who were caught off guard by the real-world impact, despite ample warning.

  “The median American. Is the median American that dumb? Or do they just know what they wanna know?” — JVL [19:31]

• Example: Flower shop owners seeing drastic input cost increases, but failing to anticipate the direct effect of tariffs.

  “Kimberly Hyde...said she was caught off guard by how much the trade policy would drain her business. ‘I don't know why it didn't occur to me that flowers would also be tariffed.’” — Andrew quoting NYT [17:23]

7. Long-Term Impact on America’s Place in the World

• The unpredictability and instability of US policy mean the world can no longer make long-term plans involving America.
• Foreign governments and businesses perceive the US as too erratic for stable investment or alliance.

  “We cannot make long term defense plans based around the whims of 40,000 people in Wisconsin every four years. That's right for NATO. And it's also going to be right about the global economic order.” — JVL [22:30]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Tariff palooza. All the tariffs are happening. … This is some exquisite stove touching.”
  — JVL [00:06]

• “Donald Trump has rewired all global trade, you know, to fit his own sort of very dearly held protectionist model.”
  — Andrew [01:47]

• “If your business has to suffer for it or your farm has to get blowed up from it, so what? It's a small price to pay for self esteem, Michael.”
  — JVL [14:34]

• “There are questions about whether it made them whole at all... they probably would have rather sold their stuff to China and just gone on doing it.”
  — Andrew [10:59]

• “There's a certain amount of willful blindness that affects us all, I would say.”
  — Andrew [21:04]

• “The United States is still very large and has a lot of money... But in terms of ordering your long-term interests, you can't do that with any confidence.”
  — JVL [21:34]

Key Timestamps

• 00:00-01:06 — JVL introduces the new “tariff palooza” and pitches the policy’s absurdity.
• 01:07-05:00 — Andrew unpacks the bizarre logic of the movie and furniture tariffs; discussion of Trump’s ad-hoc, “favorite” use of tariffs.
• 05:57-08:25 — Supreme Court speculation regarding the legality and politics surrounding tariffs.
• 08:37-11:23 — The soybean story: the cyclical bailout/welfare loop for American farmers.
• 12:40-13:55 — Argentina’s advantage from US-China trade wars; the long-term boomerang against US agriculture.
• 14:29-15:53 — JVL’s exploration of tariffs as an executive slush fund.
• 15:53-19:50 — The public’s failure to grasp tariff consequences, with small business owner anecdotes.
• 19:59-21:18 — The recurring theme: Americans’ willful blindness or naivete about policy.
• 21:20-23:20 — Long-term ramifications: America’s eroding global reliability and strategic value.

Tone & Style

The conversation is fast, sharply irreverent, and laced with gallows humor. JVL leans into snark (“stove touching”) while Andrew provides policy depth, together highlighting not just the economic chaos, but the broader political, constitutional, and cultural dysfunction fueling the tariff crisis.

This summary captures the depth, spirit, and critical details of a dense, timely episode—serving as both a recap and a primer for those seeking to understand the wider implications of Trump’s latest trade moves.