The rulers in the French House of Bourbon didn’t give up power voluntarily—they had it violently taken by Robespierre and the Jacobins in the French Revolution. Something similar is happening in America today, as Trump (playing Robespierre) guillotines the globalist, free-trading legacy of the long-standing “Washington consensus.”

Like the House of Bourbon, many of the leaders who hold court in the U.S. establishment did not want to cede power or admit the globalist system wasn't working. So, as Robert Atkinson writes for The National Review, the moment of opportunity for them to recognize that there were profound, albeit fixable problems has now passed: With one fell swoop, Trump has brought an abrupt end to globalization as we have known it to date.

The Motivation

The prevailing reaction to Trump’s “liberation day” has been a combination of mocking, confusion, and disdainful rejection. But what has been missing is any attempt to objectively assess how the Trumpian tariff revolution came to be. Atkinson explains:

1. Trumpian global economics is a direct reaction to the failures of trade and globalization and an attack on those who championed the globalist order while never attempting to have an open and honest dialogue with those pointing out problems.
2. Knowing that the United States was committed to keeping the globalist project on track, many allies contributed to the revolution by free-riding on America’s commitment to free trade.
3. China broke globalization, not Trump. China joined the WTO because doing so gave it access to foreign markets while stymieing those other nations’ ability to take unilateral action when it was clearly warranted.

Acknowledge Some Benefits

Reflecting the same one-sided, condescending mindset that once dismissed any criticism of globalization, virtually all unbending U.S. globalists have shown no recognition that last week’s tariffs will have at least some benefits or that they are a response to the failure of the establishment’s agenda.

• The tariffs are a tax increase? Of course they are. But that is not the main point. To address America’s national debt crisis, the U.S. needs to cut spending and raise taxes.
• The tariffs will not create jobs? Of course they will. But have the intellectual openness to admit that some sectors and firms will benefit from them, even if the overall U.S. economy is likely to suffer.
• The tariffs violate WTO rules? Of course they do. But, so what? The WTO is a paper tiger, especially regarding China.

Come What May

“Liberation Day was a blunderbuss when a rifle was needed,” says Atkinson. He explains it will alienate U.S. allies for many decades to come, likely leading to a permanent shift away from the United States (in some cases into the Chinese orbit) and ignores the central trade, national security, and global policy interest for America and the free world.

But whatever ensues, it’s important to at least understand the motivation for Trump’s action.

The U.S. policymaking establishment and America’s erstwhile “allies” never should have let things get this far. Just as the French Revolution was not necessary, neither was this Trumpian revolution against globalization. Those in the current globalist establishment need to stop defending the last phase of their failed project and get on board with acknowledging and fixing its problems.

Read the full commentary in The National Review.