I’ll bet the window is on a restrictor as well. There will be air con in the bar!

10/ And once Trump has the lawyers, colleges and industry under his thumb, it becomes very hard for the opposition to have any viable space to maneuver.

Trump didn’t invent this strategy. It’s the playbook for democratically elected leaders who want to stay in power forever.

9/ The tariffs are DESIGNED to create economic hardship. Why? So that Trump has a straight face rationale for releasing them, business by business or industry by industry.

As he adjusts or grants relief, it’s a win-win: the economy improves and dissent disappears.

8/ What could Trump demand as part of a quiet loyalty pledge?

Public shows of support from executives for all his economic policy. Contributions to his political efforts. Promises to police employees’ support for his political opposition.

7/ But the private sector also plays a rule to protect democracy. Independent industry has power.

The tariffs are Trump’s tool to erode that independence. Now, one by one, every industry or company will need to pledge loyalty to Trump in order to get sanctions relief.

6/ Healthy democracies rely on an independent legal profession to maintain the rule of law, independent universities to guard objective truth and provide forums for dissent to authority, and independent state/local government to counterbalance a powerful federal government.

5/ Trump knows that he can weaken (and maybe destroy) democracy by using spending and taxation in the same way.

He is using access to government funds to bully universities, law firms and state and local governments into loyalty pledges.