President Trump significantly escalated his trade war rhetoric on Friday with a series of tweets — just two days after tweeting that things were "great with China."

"Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA."

The bottom line: It should go without saying that Trump doesn't have the authority to order U.S. companies to look for alternatives to China.

Go deeper: China announces retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. goods