James Lynch reports:

President Donald Trump is threatening to impose 200 percent tariffs on alcohol products from the European Union, escalating his trade war against the bloc after it announced retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. Wednesday.

Trump floated 200 percent tariffs Thursday on European wine, champagne, and other alcohol products in response to the EU’s 50 percent tariff on American whiskey, a tax that the industry expects to have a negative impact on U.S. distillers and farmers.

Trump is the second consecutive president to abjure alcohol. He has his personal reasons, as did his predecessor. But they’ve been the exceptions. Say what you will about Nixon, for example, even considering his broad and short-lived 10 percent tariff. The hard drinker (with a famously low tolerance) never would have jeopardized his access to a wide selection of beverages in this way. Skin in the game — it just matters.