Trump’s Trade Muscle Wobbles. Tax Bill Faces the Senate. Gaza Struggles.

This weekend, the Trump administration deployed its most polished surrogates — Scott Bessent, Kevin Hassett, Howard Lutnick — not to speak to the MAGA echo chamber, but to the CNBC crowd. The goal was clear: calm the markets. The recent IEEPA court ruling temporarily undercutting Trump’s tariff authority rattled more than just trade hawks — it sent signals to every investor betting on stability. The administration needed to project control. So out came the suits, the soft voices, the spreadsheets. Everything’s fine, they said. Nothing’s changed.

But the very need for that reassurance tells you something’s up. If everything were fine, these guys wouldn’t be out here giving interviews. Trump’s entire trade strategy relies on the credible threat of tariffs. If that threat gets weakened, even briefly, it alters the negotiation calculus for every country in our orbit — China, Europe, India. And the markets noticed. Stocks ticked up on the ruling, a clear sign that investors see less tariff risk as a good thing. The administration is trying to spin that as proof of competence. But it reads more like damage control.