This Is Not What America Stands For

On Tariffs, Insider Signals, and the Dignity of the Republic

By Dino Alonso

Something is unraveling in the American spirit. And no press conference, red hat, or flag pin can disguise it.

This week, the President of the United States abruptly reversed course on trade tariffs—halting them without warning, rationale, or explanation. Within hours, the stock market surged. Fortune smiled on those who seemed to be in the know. And then, as if the moment hadn’t already been soaked in suspicion, the President looked into the camera, from inside the Oval Office, and said with a grin: “Some people knew what to do.”

That wasn’t governance. That was theater. That was an inside joke told at the people’s expense.

And it was not funny.

We are no longer watching a leader shape national policy. We are watching power performed—with smirks, cues, and markets manipulated like stage props, with working families treated like background extras.

This is not what America stands for.

When the highest office in the land signals financial advantage for the privileged few while the rest of the country watches from the sidelines, trust dies quietly, fatally. And with it goes any remaining belief that this government serves the people rather than plays them.

Let’s be clear: this wasn’t just about tariffs. It was about signaling, about insider timing, about a culture of power that no longer hides its disdain for transparency or public accountability.

And what’s worse? It was bragged about.

This kind of behavior is unethical not just to the American people but also to those who’ve worked, served, paid taxes, built homes, and raised children. It is a betrayal, a moral failure cloaked in policy, a rot in the foundation disguised as strategy.

We are not outraged because we are partisan. We are outraged because we are citizens.

There must be an investigation—not just into the financial timing but into the message itself: that public policy is up for private bidding and that the line between governance and grift no longer exists.

America cannot afford another moment of silence on this because silence is a form of permission.

We must refuse to normalize corruption just because it’s cloaked in familiarity. We must stop excusing arrogance because we’ve grown tired of calling it out. And we must, as citizens, demand that our elected representatives act, not to posture, but to protect.

Power, left unchecked, will not check itself. That is our job—not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans who still believe dignity belongs to the governed, not just the governors.

This is not what America stands for.

But if we do nothing—
If we say nothing—
If we accept this—

Then perhaps the tragedy is that it soon will be.