Latest news with #PanicanParty
The Independent
08-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Don't ‘Panican'! Republicans are finally waking up to Donald Trump
Not for the first time, many people – including some leading Republicans – are asking themselves: 'Who can save us from Donald Trump?' A man who has lived his life disregarding conventions, the law, even the Constitution of the United States, the better to aggregate wealth and power, has now set himself against the rest of the world. With his unprovoked and irrational trade war – one that now finds him playing chicken with President Xi of China – the gangster-in-chief has gone global. To those rightly concerned about the damage being inflicted on the US and world economy, the president has issued this typically solemn and statesmanlike statement: 'The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO. Don't be Weak! Don't be Stupid! Don't be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!' Well, it doesn't feel that great yet, but Trump may have inadvertently given rise to a new resistance movement: the Panican Party. So far from being cowardly and weak and stupid, Panicans are the people who put country before party, and have the guts to stand up to a deluded bully trashing American workers' living standards. These Americans are the strong, courageous and patient people who understand that America is not Trump's personal real estate. 'Panicans' should wear the label with pride, put it on T-shirts, bumper stickers and, yes, red baseball caps. Thus far, the traditional guardrails against the abuse of power have proved almost entirely ineffective, and where they threatened to actually make some impact, they have been dismantled – notably, certain federal agencies and access for the media. But with the Trump tariffs looking increasingly likely to deliver a Trump Slump, the Republican Party, long somnolent, is beginning to stir. So are some businesspeople. The Panicans are mobilising. The most, and also least surprising Panican is Elon Musk. Surprising, because he's been such a buddy of Trump; unsurprising, because Trump's policies will wreck his Tesla, car company and have already wiped billions off his net wealth. Fear not, he still has enough to get by on. Musk reposted a charming old clip of the great free market economist Milton Friedman using the example of making a pencil to extol the virtues of free trade. Musk also took a side-swipe at Peter Navarro, Trump's clever but misguided trade advisor, remarking of Navarro: 'A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing. Results in the ego/brains>>1 problem'. Another Trumpian billionaire-turned-Panican is Bill Ackman, who rightly attracted much attention with his remark that 'we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down.' In Congress there's also vocal opposition, and not confined to Democrats. Ted Cruz, for example, no one's idea of a liberal globalist, warns that 'tariffs are a tax on consumers, and I'm not a fan of jacking up taxes on American consumers, so my hope is these tariffs are short-lived, and they serve as leverage to lower tariffs across the globe'. The Congressional midterm elections next year, he predicts, will be a 'bloodbath'. Former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Rand Paul and others tend to agree: the Trump Tariffs make little economic or financial sense. Can they and their allies stop Trump? The answer is that if the Panicans don't panic, in the sense of being intimidated by Trump, and work across the aisle with their political rivals, they could do. The great irony in this is that trade policy, including setting tariffs, is a matter assigned to Congress in the Constitution, ie in Article 1, Section 8. It ought to have the power to take back control over trade policy, provided the Supreme Court permits it to do so. There are efforts to make this happen – but, at the moment, it looks like the grip Trump has on the House of Representatives will stymie any such move. More realistically is simple political pressure from within the Republican Party, or at least those elements of it that haven't fallen prey to the Maga mind virus. Behind the various senators and Congressmen and Congresswomen are millions of Americans – workers, consumers, savers… and voters. When they get laid off by firms struggling with collapsed supply chains, when they are faced with a huge rise in prices for imported goods, and they see how devalued their pension funds have become, they will take their anger out on the party they hold responsible. Either Trump changes course soon, in the knowledge that a disaster awaits him when the Democrats reclaim Congress; or he defies the Panicans and blunders into that electoral 'bloodbath' talked about by Cruz. Using the grip that the Maga movement has over Republican candidate selection, Trump can always threaten dissidents with getting 'primaried' – sacked by proxy. Congressman Thomas Massie from Kentucky is only the latest to be intimidated in this way, over the budget bill. So America is headed for yet another test of the resilience of its system of governance and a constitutional crisis – to add to the trade crisis and the international security crises Trump has also caused. But, as Trump might put it, if the Republicans don't do something about the guy, they won't have a country, let alone a party, any more.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Voices: How Trump's ‘Panican' jibe at his tariff critics could backfire
Faced with mounting alarm in the US over his trade war, Donald Trump has resorted to his stock-in-trade of name calling. He has invented a new word to describe his critics: 'Panican'. He took to his Truth Social platform to defend himself against those opposed to his tariffs, who include some who have strongly supported him in the past. He told them: 'Don't be Weak! Don't be Stupid! Don't be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!).' Trump did not explain the origin of his new word, though it does not take a genius to work out that it is a combination of 'panic' and 'American'. It also has a distinct echo of 'Republican', Trump's own party. The president did not say who he considered to be members of his imaginary Panican Party. In the absence of this, the Independent has compiled a list of potential candidates of Trump's Panican Party, based on their comments and actions in recent days. The most prominent Panican contender is Trump's hitherto best known cheerleader, billionaire Elon Musk. He appeared to signal his disdain for the tariffs by posting a video of the most famous free marketeer of all, the late economist Milton Friedman. Billionaire Bill Ackman, who backed Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, warned of an 'economic nuclear winter', Mr Ackman said: 'Business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocket books, and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate. This is not what we voted for.' Another Trump ally, Republican Pete Sessions of Texas, urged him to rethink the tariffs. Mr Sessions told the BBC: 'All Texans believe that a tariff is a tax and that it is not in the best interests of Americans or the free world to pay that extra money. The president is receiving more than enough feedback from people about a four trillion dollar stock market loss that was deep and stunning. The president must listen and I believe he will.' Republican senator Ted Cruz warned the tariffs could damage the party's political prospects. 'If we are in a scenario 30 days from now, 60 days from now, 90 days from now, with massive American tariffs, and massive tariffs on American goods in every other country on earth, that is a terrible outcome.' There have been similar messages from several leading business figures in America. Billionaire Ken Fisher, founder of Fisher Investments, said Trump's tariffs were 'stupid, wrong, arrogantly extreme, ignorant trade-wise and addressing a non-problem with misguided tools'. Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase bank, said the trade wars could threaten the US's long-term economic alliances: 'The quicker this issue is resolved, the better because some of the negative effects increase cumulatively over time and would be hard to reverse.' Stanley Druckenmiller, founder of the Duquesne investment firm and worth an estimated $11 billion, said he did 'not support tariffs exceeding 10 per cent'. Simon MacAdam, deputy chief global economist of Capital Economics consultancy, said businesses were likely to delay making investments due to the 'sheer uncertainty' of Trump's approach. 'If you are a mid-sized or even a large-cap company, you're going to be very hesitant about what to do,' he said. 'If those tariffs are going to be negotiated back down again in a few months' time, you'd be wasting your time investing potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in new plants… in the US.' Judging from such reactions, it would appear that the Panican Party has plenty of support in the US. Trump clearly intended the jibe as an insult. But with growing fears that his tariffs could lead to catastrophe in America and the wider world it may come to be a badge worn with pride. As President Trump didn't say: 'Je suis Panican.'
The Independent
08-04-2025
- Business
- The Independent
How Trump's ‘Panican' jibe at his tariff critics could backfire
Faced with mounting alarm in the US over his trade war, Donald Trump has resorted to his stock-in-trade of name calling. He has invented a new word to describe his critics: ' Panican '. He took to his Truth Social platform to defend himself against those opposed to his tariffs, who include some who have strongly supported him in the past. He told them: 'Don't be Weak! Don't be Stupid! Don't be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!).' Trump did not explain the origin of his new word, though it does not take a genius to work out that it is a combination of 'panic' and 'American'. It also has a distinct echo of 'Republican', Trump's own party. The president did not say who he considered to be members of his imaginary Panican Party. In the absence of this, the Independent has compiled a list of potential candidates of Trump's Panican Party, based on their comments and actions in recent days. The most prominent Panican contender is Trump's hitherto best known cheerleader, billionaire Elon Musk. He appeared to signal his disdain for the tariffs by posting a video of the most famous free marketeer of all, the late economist Milton Friedman. Billionaire Bill Ackman, who backed Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, warned of an 'economic nuclear winter', Mr Ackman said: 'Business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocket books, and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate. This is not what we voted for.' Another Trump ally, Republican Pete Sessions of Texas, urged him to rethink the tariffs. Mr Sessions told the BBC: 'All Texans believe that a tariff is a tax and that it is not in the best interests of Americans or the free world to pay that extra money. The president is receiving more than enough feedback from people about a four trillion dollar stock market loss that was deep and stunning. The president must listen and I believe he will.' Republican senator Ted Cruz warned the tariffs could damage the party's political prospects. 'If we are in a scenario 30 days from now, 60 days from now, 90 days from now, with massive American tariffs, and massive tariffs on American goods in every other country on earth, that is a terrible outcome.' There have been similar messages from several leading business figures in America. Billionaire Ken Fisher, founder of Fisher Investments, said Trump's tariffs were 'stupid, wrong, arrogantly extreme, ignorant trade-wise and addressing a non-problem with misguided tools'. Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase bank, said the trade wars could threaten the US's long-term economic alliances: 'The quicker this issue is resolved, the better because some of the negative effects increase cumulatively over time and would be hard to reverse.' Stanley Druckenmiller, founder of the Duquesne investment firm and worth an estimated $11 billion, said he did 'not support tariffs exceeding 10 per cent'. Simon MacAdam, deputy chief global economist of Capital Economics consultancy, said businesses were likely to delay making investments due to the 'sheer uncertainty' of Trump's approach. 'If you are a mid-sized or even a large-cap company, you're going to be very hesitant about what to do,' he said. 'If those tariffs are going to be negotiated back down again in a few months' time, you'd be wasting your time investing potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in new plants… in the US.' Judging from such reactions, it would appear that the Panican Party has plenty of support in the US. Trump clearly intended the jibe as an insult. But with growing fears that his tariffs could lead to catastrophe in America and the wider world it may come to be a badge worn with pride. As President Trump didn't say: 'Je suis Panican.'
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What is a 'Panican'? Donald Trump coins new term amid trade war turmoil
The recent swathe of tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on April 2, dubbed Liberation Day, has meant that trillions of dollars have been wiped from the global markets. The S&P 500, which tracks the share price of the largest companies in the US, briefly entered a bear market, marking a 20 per cent drop from the recent highs it saw just two months prior. Trump is urging the American people to remain calm, even as losses continue to be felt in the States and around the world. Meanwhile, in a series of posts on Truth Social, the president's own social media platform, Trump has created a new word and seemingly an unofficial new party... the 'Panican Party'. Here's a breakdown of what he said and what the new term means. 'The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. He added: 'Don't be Weak! Don't be Stupid! Don't be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!' The word appears to be a portmanteau of 'panic' and 'American', or perhaps 'panic' and 'Republican' – although the latter would be an odd choice to ridicule, as that's the president's own political party. It refers to the people who Trump claims are panicking needlessly about the crashing stock market. It's worth noting that the 'Panican Party' is a fictional political party, and not one that has actually sprung up in response to Trump's second term or the new tariffs. PANICANS are losers and failures!Don't be a PANICAN!! — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) April 7, 2025 On social media, people have begun using the term on both sides of the political spectrum, mocking either Trump for his use of it or using it to ridicule any anti-Trump groups. Trump supporter and representative for Georgia's 14th congressional district Marjorie Taylor Greene used the term on X in support of the president, saying: 'PANICANS are losers and failures! Don't be a PANICAN!' Others have used the term to poke fun at the president, with faux congressman and author Jack Kimble writing on X: 'Oh phew. When I heard Trump created a new word PANICAN, I thought that meant we were invading Panama and Canada today.'
