This Is How Trump Will Smash the Machine of U.S. Economic Power

By Henry J. Farrell and Abraham L. Newman
The New York Times
Feb 17, 2025

ClaudeAI’s summary:
The article discusses how America's economic power might change under Trump's new presidency. Here are the main points:

For the past 20 years, both Republican and Democratic presidents built up America's economic power tools, like:

• The ability to block other countries from using U.S. dollars

• Control over who can buy important technology

• Power to put economic pressure on other countries

The authors worry that Trump will use these tools differently than past presidents. They give an example: When Colombia wouldn't accept planes full of people being deported, Trump threatened to hit them with harsh economic penalties. Even though this got resolved, it scared other countries because Trump was willing to hurt even a friendly nation over a small dispute.

The authors are concerned because different groups in Trump's administration want different things:

• Some want to promote cryptocurrency

• Some are focused on Wall Street's interests

• Some want to protect national security

• Some are interested in AI and tech companies

This is different from the past, where both parties generally agreed on how to use America's economic power. The authors worry that Trump might make sudden decisions based on which group has his ear at the moment, rather than following long-term plans like previous presidents did.