So we all know Donald Trump’s pain point right now…
It is none other than the interest rates on T-Bills. He took more pain than most people could bare… he was willing to oversee the destruction of 10 trillion dollars of American wealth and 15% of global wealth. But then when the flight to safety didn’t cause a flight to T-bills as it usually does, he balked. So there you have it, the T-Bill is Trump’s achilles heal and he is not willing to cause unlimited economic pain— he fears governmental borrowing costs on the National Debt.
He had said that the Bond Market was critical to him in some previous statements, but it was the flight from T-Bills and Bessent’s resignation threats (not Elon’s tantrum or the cratering of Americans retirement savings) that forced Trump to back down and pause the tarrifs on all countries other than China.
It is critical to understand this mechanism as it seems that the Bond Market will be able to save us from future economic craziness…
To grasp how this played out and what it means for the upcoming trade war with China I recommend this podcast from the Daily:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/podcasts/the-daily/u-turn-tariffs-trump.html
Best explainer I’ve seen about this.
Now this is all about Trump’s psychology…
what worries him, what he considers glory, what he considers pain, what he will consider a victory or a defeat… So to help our paid subscribers delve a bit deeper into the recesses of this deranged and likely demented mind which is obsessed with Victory… I share for paid subscribers a fascinating psychological treatment of Trump’s father, Fred Trump:
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