Trump’s tariffs, I said, were nothing but a national sales tax that would send prices soaring and would plunge us into a recession by the following summer. I quoted sixteen Nobel laureate economists to back me up. He responded with the absurd claim that I was a Marxist and disparaged my father. I decided not to go on his turf and hoped my smile and raised eyebrow indicated how ridiculous it was. He has a skill for going for the very personal and pulling people into a false reality, forcing them to debate nonsense. Running after his crazy lies was a trap I was determined to avoid.
