He’s now threatening to cut off trade with any country that maintains a trade imbalance, unless he gets his way on interest rates. He doesn’t understand the causes of trade imbalances. Trump’s extraordinary ignorance, his extraordinary narcissism, and his Mafia mentality explain almost everything he does. Even the NYT, which acknowledges that Trump is a liar, still acts like there are actual reasons for his policy choices, rather than causes. The Republican Party owns all of this.