John Authers, Columnist

What Trump Doesn't Get About McKinley and Tariffs

They sound like an easy fix but will send prices up a mountain for ordinary Americans in more ways than one.

July 19, 2024 at 4:42 AM UTC

John Authers is a senior editor for markets and Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A former chief markets commentator at the Financial Times, he is author of “The Fearful Rise of Markets.”

Whatever you call it: North America’s highest peak (over 20,300 feet). — Whatever you call it: North America’s highest peak (over 20,300 feet).
Photographer: Lance King/Getty Images

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When Donald Trump gave an interview to Bloomberg Businessweek last month, perhaps the most interesting revelation was his hymn of praise to William McKinley, the 25th president, who was assassinated in 1901. Trump even added a new mountain for Points of Return to use in the economic debate (from Table Mountain to the Matterhorn), by complaining that Mount McKinley, America’s tallest peak, had been renamed Denali. “They took the name off — that was not nice, because he made this country so rich.” McKinley inspires Trump as follows: