Trump Hates Socialism—Except When He’s Doing It

A $12 billion farm bailout to cover tariff fallout is the clearest admission yet: his working-class economics aren’t working. We break it down with Batya Ungar-Sargon.

Welcome back to The Red Letter, where we break down silos and talk to people who can defend what often feels indefensible. No, not white supremacy — today, it’s tariffs. Specifically, President Trump’s tariffs.

Yesterday was the first stop on his new “affordability tour,” where he once again called the cost-of-living crisis a “hoax” and openly lamented that his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was forcing him to address it. He would clearly rather talk about anything other than how Americans, particularly working-class Americans, are actually feeling.

And the numbers back that up. According to a new POLITICO/Public First poll, half of all Americans say it’s difficult to afford food, and 55 percent blame the Trump administration for high prices.

That’s not just an economic problem, it’s a political one.

At the same time, Trump made a quiet admission that his tariffs aren’t working as intended: he rolled out a $12 billion bailout for farmers. The irony is hard to miss. This is a president who loves the word “tariffs,” but “socialism” is one of his harshest insults, second only to communism. Yet here he is, redistributing wealth from one group of Americans to another because his voters, farmers, are hurting. If that’s not a form of government intervention, I’m not sure what is.

I’m trying to wrap my head around all of it and wondering when the administration finally takes responsibility. Trump keeps blaming Biden. His Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, floated “Q4” as the mom they would start taking ownership for the state of the economy. Well, Q4 started more than two months ago. Meanwhile, Democrats are gleefully using every soundbite from the Weaver-in-Chief to make their case heading into the midterms and it’s working. Just look at the recent wins: Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, and the latest shocker — Miami electing a Democratic mayor, Eileen Higgins, for the first time in 30 years.

My guest today, NewsNation Batya Ungar-Sargon host, is actually ready to go to bat for Trump’s tariff strategy. She argues we’ll feel the benefits in ten years, when manufacturing jobs supposedly return, and that in the meantime tariffs are an effective bargaining chip, or a fear tactic used by a “mob boss.” Her words, not mine.

She’s even open to the idea that this kind of wealth redistribution edges into socialism, though she took issue with my interpretation.

“I think Trump is kind of like an FDR figure,” she told me on The Tara Palmeri Show. “Yes, He believes in protectionism and big government. The thing that would make it socialism would be like the Nvidia deal, where the United States is taking a 10 percent stake in Nvidia, but I think that’s a great idea.”

None of the current trends bodes well for Republicans in 2026. An affordability crisis is an anvil for any President. Add in the coming wave of congressional retirements, more than 20 GOP members as my friends at Puck report, and you have to ask: is the “blue wave” shaping up to be more like a tsunami?

Get your floaties.