Experts’ reactions to President Trump’s big new protectionist push have been mostly negative. From economists, judgments have largely ranged from skeptical to horrified. In the political realm, Democrats have been almost uniformly hostile, while Republicans have generally fallen silent or hoped for the best. From the generally Trump-aligned business community, the glass-half-empty opinion is that the president’s program is so obviously ill advised that he will eventually curtail or abandon it. The glass-half-empty faction is freaking out over its terrible mistake in assuming Trump didn’t mean what he said (over and over) about the need for high permanent tariffs until the end of time.

If Trump persists in this strategy to build a new Fortress America, the consequences for daily life in this country will determine whether it represents a political catastrophe of historic dimensions, a consolidation of MAGA policies, or something in between. But it’s worth taking a look at public opinion as it existed before “Liberation Day” to determine if the public is predisposed to support or oppose the new universal tariff program before the........

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