French elites are not the only people concerned and/or confused by President Trump's announced tariff plan this week. I heard a guy on the radio refer to him as an "agent of chaos", and tell a story about another businessman who enjoyed that role and thought that it was productive.
But French elites are extra confused. There is a long history to their confusion.
Sarah Hoyt linked a piece by Erik at No Pasaran that explains a lot about the recent inability of French politicians to "get" Trump, no matter how clearly they learn to speak in their university diction classes:
Why Does Donald Trump Bother the Élites in France and Europe So Much?
"Besides appearing on a French radio station, Sébastien Laye ruffled feathers at LinkedIn as he tried to solve a central riddle (merci pour l'InstaLien, Sarah):"
Why does Trump bother the elites in France and in Europe so much?
As an American citizen myself, and considering that these largely outdated and bankrupt élites in France had nothing legitimate to say on the subject, I asked myself this question.
To take France as an example, French graduates of the
École Nationale d'Administration (l'ENA) have feared Trump since his re-election:
The French have actually tended to have more competent bureaucrats than we have (but competent at what?) because they are trained to be good bureaucrats and have been tested in a meritocratic system. But they mostly all think alike:
1. Trump is the antithesis of their mental software
ENA graduates are trained in
technocracy, norms, collective thinking, and risk avoidance.
Trump embodies:
• Absolute individual will,
• Action without safety nets,
• Personal judgment above consensus,
• A logic of brutal disruption.
Whether you like that or not, they fear him because they can
neither anticipate nor decode his policies. It eludes their map of power.
2. The French state, over-administered, is slow, procedural, and inflexible.
Trump, for his part, acts like a pure capitalist actor:
• He redefines the framework (NATO, WTO, various trade agreements, etc…
. . .
3. Trump shatters their illusion of a multilateral world
The ENA graduates live in the De Gaulle-Mitterrand legacy of
"enlightened multilateralism," where France plays a moral role above its real power. . .
Heard recently about a very short-term deployment of a small French military unit in the Middle East. I think they helped locals vaccinate goats or something. It seemed more symbolic than a projection of power.
4. He speaks to the people – not the elites
The ENA graduates have rarely boots on the ground,
are often out of touch with the real people.
Trump, despite his billionaire status, understands popular anger and speaks directly to the crowds, without filter or perspective. This profoundly destabilizes a French elite who still believe that legitimacy comes from education and abstract reasoning.
5. Trump could impose a new grammar for transatlantic relations
A France accustomed to a certain status quo (tacit American protection,
hushed diplomacy, symbolic place at the UN) is seeing the arrival of a Trump:
• Who haggles over everything,
• Who values might over law,
• Who demands proof of strategic loyalty (as with Israel or Taiwan).
This forces the French elite to choose: fall in line or step aside.
Do you think this guy is mostly on target in his assessments?
There are others in France who warn that the French should prepare for an expanding U.S. economy. Several examples are presented in the piece linked above. You will be able to tell whether the ones you can hear include people trained as 1. politicians or 2. radio personalities by how fast they talk.
Going deeper?
All Bad Ideas Are French (or Genevan?)
France followed up Rousseau with postmodernism which is at the heart of our current socialist infestation - Derida, Foucault, etc. Yeah, the French have a lot to answer for.
You might want to look through the thread. What do you think?
A Nancy Pelosi of a different time on reciprocal tariffs and more:
Weekend
John Hinderaker was confused by President Trump's tariff policy, too. The Week In Pictures: Tax the Penguins Edition
There were some bad things that happened this week, but the election news was not as bad as portrayed by BIG NEWS.
The pictures are penguin-heavy. And there's this:
A guy pulls into a gas station. The attendant pumps his gas and looks into the back seat of the car. He sees a penguin sitting there. The attendant comes around to the driver’s window and says, “Did you know you have a penguin in the back seat of your car?” The driver says No and turns around and looks. He sees the penguin and asks the attendant, “What do you think I should do with him?” The attendant says, “If I were you, I would take him to the zoo.” “Good idea,” the driver says, and drives away.
A couple days later the driver pulls into the same gas station. The attendant pumps his gas and looks in the back seat, and there is the penguin. The attendant comes around to the driver’s side and says, “Hey, that penguin is still in the back seat.” The driver says, “I know.” The attendant says, “I thought you were going to take him to the zoo.”
The driver says: “I did, and we had so much fun, today I’m taking him to the beach.”
Plus, we had April Fools:
Music
Hope you have something nice planned for this weekend.
This is the Thread before the Gardening Thread.
Last week's thread, March 29, Is Newsom going to break into his podcasting schedule long enough to do something real about High-Speed Rail?
Comment Posted by: Archimedes at March 29, 2025 12:52 PM:
204 They're building an LA to Vegas line now, which will be the real test.
That could work as long as you buy the return ticket BEFORE you go to Vegas. Otherwise, you might not have the money.
Comments are closed so you won't ban yourself by trying to comment on a week-old thread. But don't try it anyway.