Donald Trump has recently claimed that he’s “liberating” the United States, specifically through tariffs, aimed at countries he believes have taken advantage of America.
Liberation? That word carries the weight of history. Real liberation is when the gates of Auschwitz were opened. It’s when Nelson Mandela walked out of prison after 27 years. It’s when nations clawed their way out from under the boot of dictatorship or colonial rule. Liberation is when someone is finally able to breathe freely after generations of systemic oppression.
Tariffs are not liberation. Trade negotiations are not liberation. Even the toughest economic policy isn’t liberation. It might be strategy, or even strong-arming—but let’s not pretend it’s on par with people being freed from death camps or political prisons.
Words matter. And when a president uses a term so sacred—so deeply tied to human survival and resilience—to describe his own economic choices, it doesn’t just feel wrong. It feels like an insult to every person who’s ever actually needed to be liberated.
If Trump thinks imposing tariffs is equivalent to freeing a nation from tyranny… well, maybe someone should hand him a history book instead of a microphone.
Nancy's Notes 