“I love tariffs,” President Trump has said. “My favorite word is ‘tariff.’”

Thanks to the tariffs he has imposed on about 90 countries, he claims, “we’re becoming rich as hell. … And when we finish this out, there’ll never be any wealth like what we have.” The United States has “already solved inflation, we’ve solved prices,” Trump maintains as well.

A substantial majority of Americans do not agree.

In a poll taken in August by the Pew Research Center, 61 percent of respondents did not approve of Trump’s tariff policies. And 55 percent indicated the levies will have a negative impact on them, their families and the country.

Americans have good reason to be concerned. Far from becoming “rich as hell,” the federal government is in a deep financial hole. This year, spending increased by $391 billion; the $1.9 trillion deficit is the third largest in U.S. history. The total national debt tops $37 trillion, a number which, following passage of the administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” is virtually certain to increase by trillions. Tariff revenues have not and cannot make more than a small dent in these deficits.

At 17.4 percent, the Trump tariff rate is at its highest since 1935. Tariffs are the principal reason inflation is higher now than it........

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