There is something profoundly strange about the way we consume politics in America.
Donald Trump provides an endless supply of spectacle. Every day brings another controversy, another insult, another outrageous statement, another story about the people surrounding him. The latest fascination concerns the extraordinary access reportedly given to Natalie Harp, while senior administration officials were left to travel separately on what was described as a decoy plane.
Perhaps that story deserves attention. But I find myself wondering whether we are paying attention to the wrong thing.
Because while we watch the spectacle, something far more consequential is happening.
Trump has reached back nearly a century to resurrect Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930—the Smoot-Hawley era—and is using it to impose tariffs as high as 50% on specified Canadian imports, including products that otherwise qualify for preferential treatment under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA.
That isn’t gossip.
That is a question about who governs America.
The Constitution gives Congress the power to impose duties and regulate foreign commerce. Over the years, Congress has delegated substantial portions of that authority to presidents. Trump is now testing just how far those delegations can be stretched.
And Congress, remarkably, appears willing to watch from the sidelines.
The issue is complicated. It involves an obscure 1930 statute, modern trade agreements, presidential authority, congressional delegation and the Supreme Court’s recent rejection of Trump’s attempt to use emergency powers as a basis for imposing tariffs.
Complicated? Absolutely.
Unimportant? Not remotely.
In fact, this is precisely the kind of issue that a democracy needs journalists and elected representatives to explain to the public.
Instead, our political conversation is increasingly driven by what is most entertaining, provocative or outrageous at any particular moment.
And Trump is exceptionally good at supplying it.
That creates a dangerous feedback loop:
Trump produces spectacle.
The spectacle produces attention.
The attention crowds out complicated questions.
Congress faces less public pressure to confront those questions.
And presidential power continues to expand.
The irony is that Congress doesn’t need every American voter to become an expert in Section 338.
Congress could simply decide whether it wants a president to possess the power to impose a 50% tariff on a major trading partner under a nearly century-old statute.
If Congress doesn’t like the power, it can change the law.
If Congress believes the power is appropriate, it can defend it.
But doing nothing is also a decision.
And perhaps that is the question we should be asking more often:
While we are watching Trump, who is watching his power?
That is what I intend to explore here.
Welcome to The World According to Mark.
