# Post ts_112289092311330308 - Post ID: `ts_112289092311330308` - Platform: Truth Social - Posted: 2024-04-17T23:12:53.653Z (UTC) - Deleted: no - Repost: no - Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/ts_112289092311330308 - Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/ts_112289092311330308/analysis - Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/ts_112289092311330308.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording) ## Post text > The Crooked Joe Biden agenda taxes America to build up China. My agenda will tax China to BUILD UP AMERICA! ## What the media says **Video transcript** (5:12), transcribed automatically, so names and numbers may be wrong. Speakers aren't identified, so a voice in it may not be his: > Joe Biden claims to support American manufacturing, but in reality he's pushing the same pro-China globalist agenda that ripped the industrial heart out of our country. It ripped us apart. Biden and the globalists support raising taxes on American production. They support more crippling regulations killing American jobs. They support skyrocketing domestic energy costs, and they support massive anti-American multinational agreements that send our wealth and factories overseas. Very simply, the Biden agenda taxes America to build up China. China is the big beneficiary. We cannot let that happen. And just a couple of years ago it wasn't happening. China paid to the United States hundreds of billions of dollars and no other president got 10 cents, legitimately 10 cents from China. My agenda will tax China to build up America. The heart of my vision is a sweeping pro-American overhaul of our tax and trade policy to move from the Biden system that punishes domestic producers and rewards outsourcers to a system that rewards domestic production and taxes foreign companies and those who export American jobs. They will be rewarded and rewarded greatly, and our country will benefit. To achieve this goal, we will phase in a system of universal baseline tariffs on most foreign products. On top of this, higher tariffs will increase incrementally depending on how much individual foreign countries devalue their currency. They devalue their currency to take advantage of the United States, and they subsidize their industries or otherwise engage in trade cheating and abuse. And they do it now like never before, and we had it largely stopped, and it was going to be stopped completely within less than a year. As tariffs on foreign producers go up, taxes on American producers will go down and go down very substantially, and that means a lot of jobs coming in. Not only will this system end our gaping trade deficits, and they are massive right now, and bring back millions of American jobs, it will also bring trillions and trillions of dollars pouring into the United States Treasury from foreign countries and allow us to invest that money in American workers, American families, and American communities. This plan will be the linchpin of a new strategic national manufacturing initiative that builds in my historic success in ending NAFTA, which was a tremendous thing, a tremendous achievement. Nobody thought it could be done, and we did USMCA, US, Mexico, Canada, and it was an incredible thing. But we're also going to end other unfair trade deals, and we'll end them quickly. In addition, as a matter of both economic and national security, I will implement a bold series of reforms to completely eliminate dependence on China in all critical areas. We will revoke China's most favored nation trade status and adopt a four-year plan to phase out all Chinese imports of essential goods, everything from electronics to steel to pharmaceuticals. This will include strong protections to ensure China cannot circumvent restrictions by passing goods through conduit countries, countries that don't make a product, but all of a sudden they're selling a lot of product. It comes right through China, right out of China, and right into our country. We will also adopt new rules to stop US companies from pouring investments into China and to stop China from buying up America, allowing all of those investments that clearly serve American interests. We're not going to allow bad things to happen to our country anymore, and we will eliminate federal contracts for any company that outsources to China. Biden will never get the job done. He is weak on China because the corrupt Biden family has received millions and millions of dollars from entities tied to the Chinese Communist Party. Everybody knows that. They try and hide it, and the fake news doesn't want to talk about it. Biden's pro-China economic program puts America last, and it's killing our country. My cutting-edge trade agenda will revitalize our economy by once again putting America first. And by the way, we'll get along very well with China. And you know what the reason is? They'll respect us again like they did just two years ago. We will quickly become a manufacturing powerhouse like the world has never seen before. Thank you very much. ## Media - video: https://static-assets-1.truthsocial.com/tmtg:prime-ts-assets/media_attachments/files/112/289/092/068/522/250/original/f2ce019518ded26a.mp4 ## Engagement - Likes: 19,542 - Reposts: 5,414 - Replies: 1,175 - Views: unknown - Metrics collected: 2026-02-01T01:19:51.360Z (UTC) # Analysis _Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-21T07:18:46.943Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._ ## Summary Posted at 7:12 PM EDT on the first day of Trump's historic hush money criminal trial in Manhattan, this post's most diagnostically significant feature is what it omits: any reference to the trial. Complete displacement onto economic nationalism on a day when 34 felony counts were being adjudicated suggests either disciplined strategic communication or, more likely given authorship indicators, coordinated aide-drafted messaging designed to hold Trump on preferred electoral terrain. The post's rhetorical core is a chiasmus (taxes America/builds China inverted to tax China/builds America) - a polished construction purpose-built for social sharing that substitutes structural symmetry for substantive argument. Aide-authorship is supported by business-hours timing (7 PM EDT), rhetorical polish atypical of authentic stream-of-consciousness Trump, and the attached campaign MP4. The Crooked Joe Biden nickname and ALL CAPS finale suggest Trump review or approval. Psychologically, the post reflects routine grandiose supply-seeking - nationalistic identity validation - rather than acute narcissistic reactivity. Defense mechanisms include immature splitting (absolute Biden/China vs Trump/America binary), projection (attacking taxing America while proposing tariffs economists note fall on domestic importers), and neurotic displacement away from the legal threat. Both central factual claims distort the record: Biden's China tariff posture has been hawkish, and tariffs fall primarily on domestic importers, not exporting nations. No danger indicators present. ## Structural Overview Posted at 23:12 UTC (7:12 PM EDT) on April 17, 2024 — the first day of Trump's hush money criminal trial in Manhattan. The post is campaign attack content paired with an attached MP4 video, part of a coordinated multi-post campaign messaging day. Its near-total absence of any reference to the ongoing trial is itself diagnostically significant. ## Authorship Attribution **Assessment: Likely aide-crafted with Trump brand input (moderate-high confidence)** Timing: 7:12 PM EDT falls squarely within business hours — consistent with Scavino/aide output, not Trump's characteristic late-night (10 PM–4 AM) impulsive posting pattern. Content markers: The central rhetorical device is a clean antithetical chiasmus — *"taxes America to build up China"* / *"tax China to BUILD UP AMERICA"* — a deliberately constructed, symmetrically balanced inversion far more polished than Trump's stream-of-consciousness authentic posts. The attached MP4 signals coordinated campaign production. The "Crooked Joe Biden" nickname is a signature Trump coinage and ALL CAPS "BUILD UP AMERICA" echoes authentic stylistic habits, suggesting Trump reviewed or approved the messaging. Classification: aide-drafted, Trump-branded. ## Psychological State and Triggers **Trigger classification: Supply-seeking / campaign maintenance.** No acute narcissistic injury is evident. This is not a reactive post; it is strategic electoral positioning. The trial context — which would ordinarily provoke visible narcissistic distress — is conspicuously absent, suggesting deliberate displacement away from the legal threat and toward preferred identity terrain (economic nationalism). **Narcissistic state: Grandiose.** The post positions Trump as the nation's economic protector who will invert Biden's alleged betrayal. Self-aggrandizement is embedded in the structural comparison: Biden weakens America; Trump strengthens it. The contrast requires no elaboration because Trump *is* the solution by definitional assertion. **Agency motives dominant:** Power, status, control. The tariff framework is presented as a unilateral expression of national will. Communion motives are invoked instrumentally through "AMERICA" identification — the audience is interpellated as co-beneficiaries of Trump's protective agency. ## Narrative Identity - **Protagonist role:** Economic Protector / Restorer — the leader who reverses foreign exploitation and rebuilds national strength. - **Contamination sequence (Biden era):** Good America corrupted and weakened by Biden/China alignment. - **Redemption sequence (Trump return):** Corruption reversed through Trump's decisive tariff policy. - **Identity claims:** Nationalist dealmaker; the one who acts while others capitulate. - **Contrasting other:** "Crooked Joe Biden" and China are rhetorically fused into a single adversarial unit — an ideological convenience that collapses complex geopolitical and domestic policy dynamics. ## Defense Mechanisms - **Splitting (immature):** Absolute binary — Biden/China = bad, Trump/America = good. No policy complexity acknowledged. - **Projection (immature):** Attacks Biden for "taxing America" while proposing tariffs that economists broadly agree are also paid by domestic importers, not the exporting nation. The accusation mirrors the structural reality of the proposed remedy. - **Displacement (neurotic):** On the first day of criminal trial proceedings, the post redirects entirely to economic nationalism — a psychologically clean pivot away from the acute legal threat toward an identity domain where Trump experiences unchallenged competence. - **Rationalization (neurotic):** The tariff policy is asserted as self-evidently beneficial without substantive support, using rhetorical structure as a substitute for causal argument. ## Rhetorical Analysis - **Antithesis/chiasmus:** "taxes America / builds China" reversed to "tax China / builds America" — easy to recall and share, designed for social propagation. - **Nickname attack** ("Crooked Joe Biden"): Delegitimizes the opponent before the policy claim is stated. - **Selective capitalization:** "BUILD UP AMERICA" functions as a nationalist exclamation point. - **False dichotomy:** Reduces multilateral trade, fiscal policy, and investment dynamics to a zero-sum America vs. China binary. - **Appeal to grievance/nationalism:** China-as-economic-threat is a durable cross-partisan grievance frame. - **Hyperbole:** The causal chain (Biden taxes -> China benefits) is asserted rather than demonstrated. ## Fact Verification | Claim | Verdict | Evidence | |-------|---------|----------| | "Biden agenda taxes America to build up China" | **Mostly False** | Biden maintained all Trump-era Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods (~$370B) and added new tariffs in 2024 targeting semiconductors, EVs, and solar panels. His China trade posture has been broadly hawkish, not beneficial to China. The characterization distorts documented policy record. | | "My agenda will tax China to BUILD UP AMERICA" | **Half True** | Accurately describes Trump 2024 campaign proposal for 60% or higher tariffs on Chinese-origin goods. However the premise that such tariffs tax China rather than domestic importers is economically contested - tariffs are typically paid by the importing country's businesses and consumers, not the exporting nation. | Overall Veracity: 35% ## Cognitive Assessment Post is brief, formulaic, and intentionally low-complexity for campaign messaging purposes. The chiasmus construction demonstrates basic syntactic competence. Genre precludes meaningful complexity baseline comparison. No paraphasia, tangentiality, perseveration, or temporal confusion detectable. ## Context Note: Trial Avoidance The complete absence of any reference to the historic first day of Trump's criminal trial is the most psychologically revealing feature of this post. The displacement to economic nationalism represents coordinated campaign messaging designed to keep Trump off the trial narrative and on preferred electoral terrain. ## Authorship Analysis **Aide-Written** (score: 25%) ### Indicators - 7:12 PM EDT timing - business hours, inconsistent with authentic late-night Trump posting pattern - Rhetorically polished antithetical chiasmus structure atypical of stream-of-consciousness authentic posts - Attached MP4 video suggests coordinated campaign production - No typos, misspellings, or incomplete thoughts - Crooked Joe Biden nickname is authentic Trump coinage, suggesting review or approval ## Psychological Profile ### State **Grandiose State** **Trigger:** Supply Seeking (Campaign electoral audience) Sentiment: -0.25 ### Clinical **Malignant Narcissism:** - Narcissistic: 50% - Antisocial: 10% - Paranoid: 20% - Sadism: 0% **Defense Mechanisms:** - splitting (immature) - projection (immature) - displacement (neurotic) - rationalization (neurotic) **Cognitive Complexity:** - Complexity: 20% **Parasocial Techniques:** - Co-identification: BUILD UP AMERICA interpellates audience as co-beneficiaries of Trump's protective agency - Nickname usage creates in-group shorthand (Crooked Joe Biden) - Binary framing invites audience to self-sort as America-aligned vs China-aligned ## Fact Checks (2) _The model's verdicts from 2026-03-21._ > Biden agenda taxes America to build up China **MOSTLY FALSE** Biden maintained all Trump-era Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods (~$370B) and added new tariffs in 2024 targeting semiconductors, EVs, and solar panels. His China trade posture has been broadly hawkish, not beneficial to China. The characterization distorts documented policy record. Sources: USTR Section 301 tariff schedule maintained under Biden; Biden May 2024 tariff expansion on Chinese EVs semiconductors and solar panels > My agenda will tax China to BUILD UP AMERICA **HALF TRUE** Accurately describes Trump 2024 campaign proposal for 60% or higher tariffs on Chinese-origin goods. However the premise that such tariffs tax China rather than domestic importers is economically contested - tariffs are typically paid by the importing country's businesses and consumers, not the exporting nation. Sources: Trump 2024 campaign trade platform; Economic consensus on tariff incidence Overall Veracity: 35% ## Tags - campaign-messaging (95%) - economic-nationalism (90%) - china-threat-framing (85%) - aide-authored (75%) - trial-displacement (80%) - antithesis-rhetoric (90%) - splitting (80%) - grandiose-state (60%) - biden-attack (85%) - tariff-policy (90%) ## That day _From trump.fm's machine-generated digest of the day, not his words._ **Criminal Trial Day One Triggers 31-Post Defensive Marathon From Courtroom to Campaign** Trump spent the day managing the psychological fallout of his first criminal trial, flooding his feed with a mix of late-night rage posts and polished campaign messaging. The evening before court, he fired off a rapid burst of one-word slogans — "LAWFARE," "WITCH HUNT," "ELECTION INTERFERENCE" — well past midnight, then pivoted to a bizarre extended attack on Jimmy Kimmel first thing in the morning. By afternoon and evening, campaign staff took the wheel, packaging the day as a martyrdom-to-momentum story. The dominant mood was defiance through denial: not a single post acknowledged any substance of the 34 felony charges. Full digest for 2024-04-17: https://trump.fm/date/2024-04-17/analysis ## Citation - APA: Trump, D. J. (2024, April 17). The Crooked Joe Biden agenda taxes America to... [Social media post]. Truth Social. trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/ts_112289092311330308 - MLA: Trump, Donald J. "The Crooked Joe Biden agenda taxes America to build up..." Truth Social, 17 Apr. 2024. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_112289092311330308. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026. - Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "The Crooked Joe Biden agenda taxes America to build up...," Truth Social, April 17, 2024, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/ts_112289092311330308. ## For agents - Site overview: https://trump.fm/llms.txt - API specification: https://trump.fm/openapi.json - MCP server: https://trump.fm/mcp (search and fetch tools, no auth) - This post as JSON: https://trump.fm/api/posts/ts_112289092311330308 - Analysis as JSON: https://trump.fm/api/analysis/ts_112289092311330308 - All citation formats: https://trump.fm/api/cite/ts_112289092311330308 - Same day: https://trump.fm/date/2024-04-17 - The record alone, without the analysis: https://trump.fm/post/ts_112289092311330308.md?analysis=false _Markdown view of a trump.fm page. Post, analysis, date, feed, contradictions, search and about pages answer in markdown at their URL with `.md` appended (`/index.md` for the home page), or when sent `Accept: text/markdown`._