If there’s one thing you can count on from The View, it’s that when the hosts tackle an economic issue—particularly one involving Donald Trump—you’re about to witness a masterclass in how not to understand basic economics. Monday’s discussion on Trump’s tariff strategy was no exception. Aside from a fleeting moment of clarity from Alyssa Farah Griffin, the rest of the panel managed to get everything spectacularly wrong.
Griffin, to her credit, started off on solid footing, pointing out a critical fact: Trump’s mere threat of tariffs had already pressured Mexico and Canada into stepping up their efforts to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking. That’s called leverage, and whether people like Trump or not, the strategy worked.
But then, Griffin shifted into the standard media talking point: warning that Trump’s tariff policies could push America toward “isolationism” and send U.S. allies running into China’s arms. The idea that a president who spent years forcing better trade deals, strengthening NATO contributions, and aggressively countering Beijing would suddenly make the U.S. less competitive on the world stage? That’s a tough sell.
Alyssa Farah Griffin noted that there are signs that Mexico and Canada are already coming to the table after Trump installed tariffs. But then claims Canada could become allies with China. pic.twitter.com/6B0ccCLLJS
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 3, 2025
Then came Ana Navarro, who—true to form—turned the tariff discussion into a dramatic monologue about oppression. According to Navarro, Trump isn’t just enforcing U.S. immigration law; he’s bullying immigrants by arresting and deporting violent criminals. Because apparently, expecting people to follow the law is now considered “bullying.”
But Navarro’s real issue? Tariffs on tequila and avocados.
"As if deporting good, hardworking immigrants wasn’t enough. As if emboldening racial profiling and bigotry against Latinos wasn’t enough. As if bullying Panama wasn’t enough. Now he’s going to tax our tequila and avocados?!"
That’s right. Forget national security, illegal immigration, and the fentanyl crisis—the real crisis is the price of Ana Navarro’s margarita.
And then came Sara Haines, who confidently linked Trump’s tariff policy to... wait for it... the price of eggs.
"Why aren’t the price of eggs getting better?" she asked, ignoring the inconvenient fact that egg prices skyrocketed due to a bird flu outbreak before Trump was even in office. But hey, why let facts get in the way of a good anti-Trump rant?
Then, in perhaps the most baffling take of the day, Whoopi Goldberg rounded things out with her theory on why the U.S. imports more than it exports. According to Whoopi, it’s not because of high labor costs, strict regulations, or international trade deals—it’s because American-made products just aren’t good enough.
Sara Haines falsely claims tariffs are why eggs produced in America are expense: "Why aren't the price of eggs getting better? This was the other part he promised which was tariffs."
FACT: Eggs are expensive because of a bird flu outbreak, not tariffs. pic.twitter.com/i46X2CyC1r— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 3, 2025
"There’s a reason people don’t really take a lot of our things that we export because the quality of what we put out has not always been the best," she claimed.
Now, let’s pause for a moment.
This is the country that leads the world in aerospace, pharmaceuticals, medical technology, agriculture, and industrial machinery—and Whoopi’s take is that America doesn’t export much because we make low-quality goods? The Boeing planes she flies in, the Apple iPhone in her pocket, the Tesla cars that Hollywood celebrities love—none of those count?
What’s really happening here is classic View logic: If Trump does something, it must be bad. If he uses tariffs to negotiate better trade deals, tariffs must be bad. If he enforces immigration laws, he must be a racist. If he does anything that might disrupt the price of avocados, well, now he’s gone too far.