Mattel-Gate: Where Tariffs Meet Make-Believe Countries

We need to talk—because the WORLD IS WATCHING, and frankly, they’re LAUGHING. President Trump recently said: “If Mattel—they’re the only country I’ve heard that said, ‘We’re gonna try going someplace else’—let ‘em go, and we’ll put a 100% tariff on their Barbies, and he won’t sell one toy in the U.S.” Mattel is NOT A COUNTRY. It’s a CALIFORNIA-BASED TOY COMPANY that manufactures in Mexico, China, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia and imports its products to the U.S. This statement is not only factually false—it reveals a DANGEROUS MISUNDERSTANDING of how tariffs, trade, and basic economics work. TARIFFS APPLY TO COUNTRIES OR CATEGORIES OF GOODS—NOT INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES. Threatening a 100% tariff on Mattel isn’t “strong policy”—it’s LEGALLY INDEFENSIBLE unless applied broadly and within the bounds of INTERNATIONAL LAW. It didn’t stop there. In an interview with Time Magazine, President Trump claimed: “I’ve made 200 deals. 100%.” When asked WHICH COUNTRIES, he REFUSED TO NAME a single one, saying he’d announce them “in three to four weeks” when the negotiations were “finished.” That’s a problem. There are only 195 RECOGNIZED COUNTRIES on Earth. So who are these deals with? COUNTRIES—or CORPORATIONS? If trade concessions are being handed out to COMPANIES THAT FLATTER THE PRESIDENT or INVEST IN HIS CRYPTOCURRENCY, then this isn’t economic leadership. It’s CORRUPTION DRESSED UP AS PATRIOTISM. CONGRESS MUST ACT. This is not just embarrassing—it’s DANGEROUS. It’s a clear sign that trade policy is being driven by EGO, not LAW OR STRATEGY. At the very least, demand ACCOUNTABILITY. Demand CLARITY. Demand COMPETENCE. Because if this continues unchecked, we must all ask: ARE WE GREAT YET—OR JUST GLOBALLY EMBARRASSED?