Why is Trump so fixated on toys for little girls? | Moira Donegan

Donald Trump has recovered a caller people for his trademark mockery and dismissal: small girls.

In comments astatine a 30 April furniture meeting, the president seemed to disregard the economical interaction of his chaotic tariff authorities connected American consumers by citing girls arsenic the superior complainants. “Somebody said, oh, the shelves are going to beryllium open,” Trump said. “Well, possibly the children volition person 2 dolls alternatively of 30 dolls. And possibly the 2 dolls volition outgo a mates bucks much than they would normally.”

Trump is prone to unusual non-sequiturs, but the dolls person go thing of a sticking point. Onboard Air Force One connected 4 May, helium doubled down connected his insistence that American girls should person less toys. “All I’m saying is that a young lady, a 10-year-old girl, nine-year-old girl, 15-year-old girl, doesn’t request 37 dolls,” he told reporters. “She could beryllium precise blessed with 2 oregon 3 oregon 4 oregon five.”

In an interrogation with Kristen Welker of Meet the Press that aforesaid day, Trump again mentioned the dolls. “I don’t deliberation a beauteous babe miss needs – that’s 11 years aged – needs 30 dolls,” Trump said. “I deliberation they tin person 3 dolls oregon 4 dolls due to the fact that what we were doing with China was conscionable unbelievable.” He went connected to asseverate that American children besides person excessively galore pencils. “They don’t request to person 250 pencils. They tin person five.”

In immoderate respects, the comments look similar a uncommon spot of honesty from the president: an acknowledgment of the world that his tariffs volition wounded consumers and little the American their modular of living. With steep tariffs connected galore user goods, peculiarly those made successful China, and proviso concatenation issues caused by retailers and producers frantic attempts to offset the costs of the caller tariffs, galore communal products – yes, including children’s toys – volition go shorter successful proviso and steeper successful cost. Because of Trump’s policies, it is so existent that determination volition beryllium less presents for children underneath American Christmas trees this twelvemonth – a inclination that is apt to proceed for years to travel if Trump’s commercialized warfare triggers an economical recession, arsenic is widely expected. Americans themselves don’t person overmuch accidental successful this, but Donald Trump wants america each to cognize that he’s comfy with us, and our children, having less.

But the enactment of dolls, successful particular, arsenic Trump’s stand-in for user prices reflects the gendered ideas astir work, wealth and purchasing that animate Trump’s chaotic economical policy. After all, Trump did not speech astir the interaction of his commercialized authorities connected artifact trucks oregon GI Joe enactment figures – and helium surely didn’t notation its apt interaction connected things similar video games, basketballs, squat racks oregon macromolecule powders. The tariffs volition summation prices crossed economical sectors and wounded consumers of each kinds of goods. But Trump did not talk successful wide presumption astir those who mightiness similar to bargain a location 1 day, oregon astir who volition beryllium wounded by his tariffs connected Canadian lumber, oregon astir those who would similar to beryllium treated for their illnesses but who person to wage steeper prices for the medicines they request erstwhile tariffs deed pharmaceuticals. He didn’t speech astir immoderate of the depletion that Americans are uniformly agreed to deliberation of arsenic reasonable, dignified oregon aspirational. He chose, instead, thing seen arsenic trivial, childlike, and lone for girls.

The comments purpose to formed the symptom that consumers volition look arsenic yet feminine and frivolous, their complaints petulant and childlike. In this respect, Trump is drafting connected a long tradition of economical rhetoric that aims to formed depletion arsenic feminine, decadent and morally fishy – and to opposition it with the supposedly much manly and virtuous productive broadside of the economy. It’s a laughably anserine symbolism, 1 that lone works for those profoundly committed to their ignorance astir however the system really works: successful truth, everyone consumes, and radical of each genders enactment successful the productive economy. But Trump does not reason based connected the facts: helium asserts dominance. And here, helium casts those Americans who would kick astir the economical symptom that helium is inflicting connected them arsenic feminine and hence arsenic contemptible, deserving nary much respect than spoiled children.

The task of masculinizing the system – possibly particularly astatine children’s disbursal – is 1 that the Trump medication seems to beryllium pushing much broadly. Trump claims, contempt the near-universal assertions of economists to the contrary, that his tariffs volition displacement the US distant from the primarily female work assemblage industries that person dominated the American system since the 1970s backmost to a much masculine manufacturing base.

To this end, his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, a billionaire erstwhile CEO, went connected MSNBC precocious past period to picture his imaginativeness for the aboriginal of the American worker. “It’s clip to bid radical not to bash the jobs of the past but to bash the large jobs of the future,” Lutnick said, arguing that less radical should beryllium aspiring to bachelor’s degrees and should expect to inhabit themselves successful lower-skill mill enactment instead. “This is the caller model, wherever you enactment successful these benignant of plants for the remainder of your life, and your kids enactment here, and your grandkids enactment here.”

This is the imaginativeness for your children’s aboriginal that the Trump administration wants to enactment forward: deprived of worldly comforts and joyousness successful childhood, past deprived of the anticipation for upward mobility successful adulthood. They privation you, and your kids, to beryllium poor, hopeless and ignorant. They privation you to enactment successful repetitive, dangerous, back-breakingly carnal jobs, and they privation you to person nary aspiration to thing better. They privation you to ideate your future, and your children’s futures, not arsenic an unfastened skyline of state and potential, but arsenic a acheronian and hopeless struggle, devoid of the conception that we mightiness beryllium thing much than utile instruments for the needs of capital. What bash they connection Americans arsenic compensation for this loss? Virtually nothing, speech from misogynist contempt, and the assurance that arsenic our surviving standards descend and our prospects disappear, successful our suffering, astatine least, we are masculine.

On Fox News this past Tuesday, the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, tried to enactment this rotation connected things. Describing what helium would accidental to a small miss who would beryllium denied dolls due to the fact that of Trump’s tariff policy, Bessent insisted that it was for her ain good. “I would archer that young miss that you would person a amended beingness than your parents,” Bessent said. But the Trump medication is doing everything successful its powerfulness to guarantee that America’s children – and successful particular, its small girls – person it worse.

• Moira Donegan is simply a Guardian US columnist