Overview

• Trump has expressed admiration for the Gilded Age (1870-1913), focusing on high tariffs and fiscal surpluses as key drivers of economic growth during that era.
• Experts argue that the Gilded Age's economic growth was largely fueled by factors like industrialization, immigration, and resource exploitation rather than tariffs alone.
• The president has implemented and proposed new tariffs on imports from China, the European Union, and other nations, with plans for broader 'reciprocal' import taxes starting April 2.
• Historians and economists warn that Trump's idealization of Gilded Age policies overlooks the era's widespread inequality, corruption, and erratic economic growth.
• Trump's comparisons to President McKinley, a tariff advocate, are complicated by McKinley's eventual shift toward lowering tariffs to foster international trade before his assassination in 1901.