Trump Brushes Off CEOs' Calls for Clarity on Tariffs

More from the article ...

... Why it matters: Markets are falling, consumer confidence is declining, and executives say the uncertainty about tariffs is freezing up their businesses.

What they're saying: Trump, in an interview with Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," was asked if CEOs will get clarity on tariffs in coming weeks, especially with an April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline looming.

- - - "You'll have a lot, but we may go up with some tariffs, it depends, we may go up " I don't think we'll go down, but we may go up," he said.

- - - "They have plenty of clarity, they just use that, that's like almost a soundbite, they always say that, 'we want clarity.'"

Catch up quick: Over the last five weeks Trump said he'd impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico, then paused them for a month, then put them into effect, then exempted cars, then exempted almost all other imports (but only until early April), then threatened new tariffs against Canada on dairy and lumber. ...

imo, yeah, corporate CEOs are tasked by their shareholders with, among other things, planning and strategizing.

But when the current occupant of the Oval office seems to be, I'll be kind, whimsical in his fiscal policies, those CEOs may express a concern.

Carly Simon - It Was So Easy (1972)
www.youtube.com

Lyric excerpt ...
genius.com

...
I remember a time, rompin' through the woods
Sun against our skin instead of clothes
When we felt hungry we would eat, when we felt glad we'd dance
And whenever we felt drowsy we would doze

It was so easy then, never takin' any stands
It was so easy then, holdin' hands

I remember a time when our fears could be named
And courage meant not refusing dares

I remember when we took such cares to step never on the cracks
Not only in the squares
Or else we'd be abducted by the bears

It was so easy then, never makin' any plans
It was so easy then, holdin' hands

(interlude)

It was so easy then, never makin' any plans
It was so easy then, holdin' hands

And now we are grown, with debts and regrets
And broken hearts and sentimental schemes
Now every tender failure seems to overthrow old dreams
Love can drive a normal woman to extremes

It was so easy once, holdin' hands without a plan
It was so easy once, holdin' hands
Just holdin' hands
...

@#4 ... He's as stable and practical as any other monkey with a machinegun ...

Or an apparent crazy person on stage and prancing around with a chain saw.

@#7 ... Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch ...

OK, that led me to ...

Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch
montypython.fandom.com

... The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch was a weapon in Brother Maynard's keeping. According to the Book of Armaments, chapter two, verses nine through twenty-one, it was consecrated by Saint Attila.

The scriptural account read by Brother Maynard's Brother (played by Michael Palin) in the Book of Armaments:

"And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, 'O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.' And the Lord did grin. And the people did feast upon the lambs, and sloths, and carp, and anchovies, and orangutans, and breakfast cereals, and fruit bats, and large chulapas...

(At this point, Brother Maynard's Brother is interrupted by Maynard himself, who tells him "Skip a bit, Brother." Maynard's Brother continues.)

"And the Lord spake, saying, ''First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.'"

King Arthur had the Holy Hand Grenade brought out during the battle against the Rabbit of Caerbannog.
...

Whoa.

(yeah, OK, Monty Python. I get it. :) )

... Corporate CEOs have "plenty of clarity" on U.S. tariff policy, despite all the on-off-on changes of recent weeks, President Trump said Sunday. ...

The "plenty of clarity" that the CEOs currently have is --- to the CEOs it is a clear that Pres Trump does not seem to have a plan, that Pres Trump does not even seem to be acting in a transactional mode anymore, but a whimsical mode.

Unfortunately, CEOs need to plan and strategize, and that is a difficult thing to do if the future is so unclear.