Cover Story: Watching President Donald Trump’s Rose Garden performance yesterday, it was hard to believe what we were seeing: flawed economics, inaccurate history and cockamamie calculations used to justify the most wrong-headed and damaging policy decision in decades. Mr Trump’s “Liberation Day” was more like ruination day. The cover leader in most of the world predicts that these mindless tariffs will cause chaos. Almost everything Mr Trump said this week—on history, economics and the technicalities of trade—was deluded. He has long glorified the high-tariff era of the late 19th century. In fact, it was the painstaking rounds of trade talks in the 80 years after the second world war that lowered tariffs and led to unprecedented global prosperity, including for America. 
The country that created, and has gained mightily from, the global trade system is now trying to destroy it. The question for countries reeling from the president’s vandalism is how to limit the damage. The Economist argues that they should focus on increasing trade flows among themselves, especially in the services that power the 21st-century economy. There is no avoiding the havoc Mr Trump has wrought, but that does not mean his foolishness is destined to triumph.