The Lies Keep Coming: Trump's Japanese Lie

Trump just wrapped up his Asia tour. While visiting Japan, he declared Toyota would be looking to invest $10 billion in the United States. Amidst his disastrous tariffs (on Nov. 5 the Supreme Court will determine if he can legally make these tariffs), it is important to go back to the basics. The Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate foreign commerce, impose tariffs, and collect revenue. It is one thing for Congress to pass legislation allowing Presidential intervention in certain circumstancs, quite another to allow the President to unilaterally decide what impacts the commerce of this country. What next, despite the Constitution, is Trump going to decide to overtake the Judicial branch and make his own decisions and not the courts? The Supreme Court better watch out, if they don't draw clear lines they are next. One way or another, he will unilaterally attempt to decide cases himself (Hasn't he already? Pardoning and commuting the sentences of violent January 6 rioters essentially does away with the courts determinations). A senior executive at Toyota denied Trump's words. Hiroyuki Ueda, a senior Toyota exectuve, said Toyota "didn't specifically say that we'll invest $10 billion over the next few years." He further added Akio Toyoda, Toyota's chairman, spoke with Trump at a US embassy event on Tuesday and the topic of investment did not come up. Why is this dangerous? Promises are important. Figures even more so. You don't build trust putting words into people's mouths. The real numbers are not panning out for the United States, despite Trump's deceiving rhetoric. Trump declared China agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans this season. In 2024, China bought $12.6 billion worth of U.S. soybeans. Analysts say China's purchase of $4 billion through next May will still only be a third of what it was when Biden was in office. In 2024, China bought 90% of US sorghum exports, with this year sorghum sales to China are down 97%. Our farmers are in severe financial distress. When you break a valuable vase, there is not much celebrating when you piece it back together with glaring, missing parts. Meanwhile Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell tries to address increasing inflation and unemployment by lowering the interest rate on what he calls a softening labor market in the midst of four weeks without data. It's one thing for a Presidential candidate to make economic promises (that have not manifested) while campaigning, quite another to deliberately sabotage the American economy while lying and implementing unilateral tariffs (sometimes on a whim, angry at the Ontario Reagan ad he raised Canadian tariffs another 10%).