Donald Trump said something smart — but for all the wrong reasons | Opinion
Many foolish statements — not to mention outright lies — have come from the mouth of Donald Trump.
Yet in discussing tariffs, he said something a couple of weeks ago that made irrefutable sense: “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.”
He later issued a clarification: “All I’m saying is that a young lady, a 10-year-old-girl, 9-year-old girl, 15-year-old-girl, doesn’t need 37 dolls.”
He is absolutely right, but why pick on kids?
That same principle applies to all sorts of consumer products marketed to adults: Bathrobes. Pickle ball paddles. Designer handbags. Surfboards. Basketball jerseys. Scented candles. Wind chimes. Garden gnomes. Stanley cups.
The fact is, we don’t need so much stuff, and for the president to say that — albeit in a roundabout way — is remarkable for a couple of reasons.
As The Wall Street Journal succinctly put it: “Americans aren’t used to hearing their president scold them for being too materialistic.”
It is especially dumbfounding that this particular president would do so.
Given all the tchotchkes the Trump Organization is hawking online — fragrance infusers, cutting boards, lip moisturizer, golf balls, keychains, liquor flasks and of course, lots of T-shirts, including one that says “Trump 2028” — it is counter-intuitive, not to mention hypocritical, for the president to suggest we deprive our children of dolls and pencils. (He also said kids don’t need 250 pencils.)
Still, his hypocrisy doesn’t negate the truth of what he is saying.
Our world is choking on an overabundance of items we don’t need, almost all of which wind up in landfills — unless they are dumped at the side of the road or, worse, in our oceans and waterways.
Have you seen video of the mounds of shredded clothing that wash ashore in Ghana? And don’t get me started on all the energy it takes to produce and transport those must-have items we wear twice and then consign to the Goodwill bag. (Not that I have any room to judge.)
Yet we believe EVs and offshore wind will save us, even as we keep on buying. And except for some minimalists who are mostly preaching to the choir, no one in charge is telling us to cut it out.
Seriously, when’s the last time you heard an elected leader suggest that we reduce consumption for the good of the planet? Or that an ever-increasing GDP may not be such a good thing after all?
Which is exactly why Trump’s offhand comments about dolls and pencils were on target. Not that he’s preaching minimalism — if you could call it that — for any noble reason.
He could care less about the environment, and even less about the financial and psychological benefits of a spending diet.
He’s suggesting cutbacks as a temporary fix — not a permanent lifestyle change — because at heart, he’s a ruthless salesman who is happy to enrich himself at our expense.
He just doesn’t want us to buy stuff made in places like China and India and Vietnam, and he’s convinced that tariffing the heck out of those nations will make their goods (i.e. dolls and pencils) unaffordable and revive manufacturing in the U.S.
That will take a while, though, and while we’re waiting for American factories to start spitting out toys and T-shirts, the president wants us to be patient and maybe cut a few more notches in our belts.
But will prices be any lower when and if this miraculous manufacturing revival is complete?
That’s doubtful, due in large part to higher labor costs.
Marketplace.org broke down the cost of manufacturing clothing in the U.S. and came up with these estimates: an organic cotton dress shirt or blouse, $126-$207; a jacket, $332-$1,644, depending on fabric; and jeans, $234-$334.
(If you’re interested in buying clothes made in the U.S., or just want to price them, check out this list of American manufacturers.)
In other words, we’d better get used to the two-doll, five-pencil limit, because even though Trump is negotiating deals with other nations, he’s not about to give up on his “beautiful” tariffs.
But kids shouldn’t be the only ones making sacrifices.
While we’re at it, maybe we should cut back on the Stanley cups and tote bags?
This story was originally published May 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Donald Trump said something smart — but for all the wrong reasons | Opinion."
