The Guardian view on Donald Trump's tariffs: a spectacle of struggle and control

Donald Trump has probably not read much Michel Foucault. But he appears to embody the French philosopher's claim that "politics is the continuation of war by other means". Nowhere is this more apparent than in his fondness for tariffs. He presents taxing foreign imports as a way to rebuild the American economy in favour of blue-collar workers left behind by free trade and globalisation. Yet he plainly thinks that politics is not about truth or justice. It is about leverage and supremacy. Britain is learning first-hand that Mr Trump, with his us-versus-them framing and taste for spectacle, is an accidental…