This past week, President Donald Trump yet again lunged maniacally for power that wasn’t clearly established as his own, tweeting that he “hereby orders” American companies to prepare to completely stop doing business with China. There’s no legal basis for Trump to make that belligerent assertion, although the president has claimed otherwise. House Intelligence Committee Chairman and frequent Trump critic Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) denounced the president’s behavior with a joke that he posted on his own Twitter feed suggesting Trump should just stop tweeting. Of course, there’s no indication that’s actually going to happen. While Trump maintains the powers of the U.S. presidency at his disposal, he prefers to rush to a personal Twitter feed when things get tough.
Schiff posted:
‘As long as we are claiming constitutional powers we don’t have, I hereby order the President to stop tweeting.’
Originally, Trump had tweeted:
‘Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.’
So what exactly is his plan here then? Does he want to have the United States simply try and ignore China’s existence in an increasingly and inescapably globally interconnected 21st century? Is he aware that it’s the 21st century in the first place?
Trump has claimed the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 as supposed basis for his “order,” but in order to actually use the presidential power to direct U.S. business that’s inherent in that act, the president would have to declare a national emergency over the trading situation in question. He has not done so. Another key issue is that it would stop only future investment in a particular trading partner, not dial back past investment like that inherent in the already established business in and with China that Trump wants U.S. companies to abandon.
Check out Twitter’s response…
Featured Image via screenshot
