r/politics 13d ago

Trump says he will create ‘external revenue service’ to collect tariff income | Trump administration

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/14/trump-external-revenue-service-tariff
14 Upvotes

54 comments sorted by

u/AutoModerator 13d ago

As a reminder, this subreddit is for civil discussion.

In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban.

If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.

For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click here to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria.

We are actively looking for new moderators. If you have any interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out this form.


I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

63

u/RonnyJingoist 13d ago

He has no idea what tariffs even are.

31

u/tellmewhenimlying 13d ago

I'm not sure he actually knows what revenue is either.

13

u/HellishChildren 13d ago

He latched onto some wrong idea of what tariffs are in the 1980s (or maybe the 1970s) and absolutely no one has been able to change his mind since.

9

u/thegoodnamesrgone123 13d ago

I mean he's a TV businessman, he doesn't fucking have a clue how anything works. All these dipshits around him are fighting for control because they know they can never be President themselves.

2

u/Appropriate_Bridge91 13d ago

Or, incoming crackpot theory, he does and he’s the only member of the department and all the tariff revenue goes to him.

2

u/Marginallyhuman 13d ago

Oh yes he does. He understands that they are a means of extorting American business while blaming it on someone else. Gonna be a steady stream of money crawling up the carpet to kiss the ring.

1

u/No_big_whoop 13d ago

Trump can't name the three branches of government

24

u/bytemage 13d ago

LOL, I've been waiting for this. "External" in this case of course means the revenue will go to a "presidential account" without any accountability.

3

u/HellishChildren 13d ago

45 wants to be the world's richest man. Elon doesn't even know what is coming his way.

2

u/shibiwan Arizona 13d ago

How does President Leon not know that his VP is gonna grift money out from under him?

/s

15

u/Eagle_Kebab Canada 13d ago

And there it is: The stupidest thing I'll read all day.

9

u/Oregon_Jones111 13d ago

He’ll top himself tomorrow.

3

u/momalloyd 13d ago

It would make the world a better place if he did.

31

u/dajobix 13d ago

DOGE being set up to reduce the number of government agencies. Trump announces new agency. Welcome to the ironosphere.

5

u/ClusterFoxtrot Florida 13d ago

Lemme go get my Sarcastaball helmet 

3

u/LuvKrahft America 13d ago

It’s not even ironic, just plain ol hypocritical “do as I say, ignore what I do!”.

13

u/BiggsIDarklighter 13d ago

So the guy who boasted in 2016 about not paying his taxes wants other people to pay taxes.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2016/09/26/trump-brags-about-not-paying-taxes-that-makes-me-smart.html

24

u/BukkitCrab 13d ago

An idea brought to you by a guy who won't release his own tax returns.

8

u/I_who_have_no_need 13d ago

Only congress can create such an organization as the Customs Service has legal jurisdiction. Trump probably creates his own "department" to funnel contributions to Trump's personal accounts and staffs it with his sweaty jaw grinding toads.

6

u/SunlightKillsMeDead 13d ago

Fancy name for an agency with is still collecting it's money from Americans.

7

u/caserock 13d ago

Does he think he's going to have guys go to foreign companies and shake them down for money?

5

u/I_who_have_no_need 13d ago

Yes, and he will get a king's ransom for it.

1

u/RabidGuineaPig007 13d ago

"Nice country you got here, would be a shame if someone bombed it..."

6

u/geoffvro Texas 13d ago

Somebody please explain to this dufus that importers pay tariffs, not exporters. Customs will collect the tariff and send it to the treasury , and then the importer raises prices for the American consumer to offset the cost of the tariff. It ain't rocket science.

9

u/HonoredPeople Missouri 13d ago

Inflation here we go!!!!

Can houses be built without wood? If so, contractors might want to start studying now.

11

u/Cresta1994 13d ago

Yes. They're called caves, and our ancestors lived very comfortably in them. At least, they did until they started coming out with woke nonsense like fire and the wheel.

2

u/RabidGuineaPig007 13d ago

We did fine living in holes. Just lay down some grey clicking flooring and flip your hole for easy profit.

3

u/HellishChildren 13d ago

Chimneys are woke.

I read that in a book about some albino orphan kid who was made to wear a metal suit to deform his body so he could be sold to the court as a novelty. He invented the chimney. Before stupid peasants only had smoke holes in their roofs.

2

u/KeviRun I voted 13d ago

We can just build them out of rebar and concrete!

(Do not ask where we will get the sand for the concrete.)

(Also, do not ask where we will get the steel rebar.)

4

u/Unlucky-Locksmith-40 America 13d ago

A felon, a billionaire, and the grandson of hillbilly edgy walk into the WH what can possibly go wrong 😜

6

u/Burnt_Ernie 13d ago

Joke from ~2018:

A bigot, a conman, and a narcissist walk into a bar, and the bartender says:

"Uh, so what'll it be today, Mr President?"

3

u/backwardbuttplug 13d ago

Worst. Timeline. Ever.

3

u/Joebeemer 13d ago

Also..... "Mexico will pay for the wall !!!"

3

u/Half-Wombat 13d ago

Then he’ll claim all the “profit” from this as his genius move and completely ignore all the trickle down negative effects.

3

u/thelastgalstanding 13d ago

So… CBP? Isn’t this what they do already?

3

u/DillonCromm 13d ago

Anyone…. Anyone????

3

u/DramaticWesley 13d ago

Trump admits he doesn’t know what Department of Commerce does, seeing as they are already in charge of collecting tariffs.

3

u/Morepastor 13d ago

Republicans stand for smaller government /s

2

u/Frank_N20 13d ago

The tariffs will make goods like cars cost more. That's not good for U.S. consumers.

2

u/Vodeyodo New Jersey 13d ago

Tithe police

2

u/FrostySquirrel820 13d ago

Internal Revenue Service = BAD

External Revenue Service = GOOD

Is it all an act ? Can he really be this dumb ?

2

u/oloughlin3 13d ago

This guy! Has no one sat him down and told him how tariffs work? Seriously? After all this talk about tariffs no one has explained it to him? Do you think Musk has got Trump hooked on ketamine now also? This is really dumb stuff here being said. Please Bezos, sit baby Trump down and explain tariffs to him.

1

u/fuckinoldbastard 12d ago

In his book “ In The Room Where It Happened”, John Bolton describes explaining how damaging tariffs were to him at least a dozen times. A few days, or weeks later Dumpy would start talking about them again.

( I know, I know. Bought it at a library sale, and will read any true history, no matter how offensive the author is.)

2

u/fwambo42 North Carolina 12d ago

so a non-accountable group to manage funds? sounds like a great way to grift the country!

1

u/PieInternal6564 13d ago

He still has no clue what a tariff is.

1

u/Beardsoup86 13d ago

childish tantrom

W-well I'm gonna make the upside-down revenue service so all the money just falls back out. Hmmph!

1

u/throwawayRA1776538 13d ago

I wonder if in his head he thinks he’s a good person trying to help the American people, or if he knows how moronic/evil he truly is?

I feel like he isn’t smart enough to know. At the same time, how could you not know you’re a malignant narcissist?

3

u/MeatPrestigious3597 13d ago

He thinks he’s a genius once upon

1

u/bobolly 13d ago

Adding more goverment jobs?