LETTER: Trump’s muddled message on tariffs

Donald Trump made a big error. He sent out Peter Navarro and Howard Lutnick (commerce secretary) to make the plea for reciprocal tariffs. Mr. Lutnick called Elon Musk, who opposes the tariffs, a “car salesman.” Really? That’s the best you can do? Wrong message, and Elon is upset — hence the talk of him leaving the Trump administration.

We actually need trade deficits with many of our trade partners — not reciprocal rates. We need to recapture the lost wealth that previous presidents gave away and lost to these trading parties. Can Mr. Trump correct course? He’d better. Send out the treasury secretary and two loyal friends — Larry Kudlow and Art Laffer — to get his message back on track. The message is the policy narrative. You get only one time to make it correctly. Get it right.