Donald Trump is solving his tariff problems the only way he knows how: paying them off We started a trade war with China that hurt farmers and now we're going to pay off the farmers with money we'll borrow from China.

Paul Brandus | Opinion columnist

Show Caption Hide Caption What a trade war means for you President Trump‘s fresh tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods set the stage for price increases hitting American companies and consumers. So how does it affect the everyday American? We explain.

Let’s get right to the point. With his proposed $12 billion bailout of America's farmers, Donald Trump is doing to them what he did to porn star “Stormy Daniels.” The only difference: A lot more people are being paid off, and it is being done with our tax dollars.

But wait: There’s more. Since even the White House now admits that the federal deficit is growing much faster than expected — it’ll hit a cool $1 trillion next year — we’ll have to borrow even more from foreigners, and that’s likely to include China. So to square the circle here: Trump hits China with tariffs. The Chinese hit back. Our farmers get hurt. Trump proposes to pay off the farmers with money … borrowed from China.

Our annual deficits are piling up so fast, the national debt itself could hit $33 trillion in fiscal year 2028 — which begins in just nine years. Now Trump wants to add more in the form of bailouts for a bad policy? This is hardly, as he likes to describe himself, the work of a "stable genius."

America isn't saving as much as it's spending

Trump keeps saying America can’t be the world’s piggy bank. My question is this: How can a country that has to borrow $1 trillion a year (about $1.9 million every minute of every hour of every day) from foreigners be the piggy bank? These Republican Tea Party/deficit hawks who seized control of Congress nearly a decade ago have done a heckuva job in restoring the fiscal discipline they promised, haven't they?

But I digress. As Trump’s tariff war intensifies, who else could be bailed out with Chinese money? How about the thousands of American employees of Whirlpool?

When Trump announced tariffs on imported washing machines back in January, CEO Marc Bitzer told analysts, "This is, without any doubt, a positive catalyst for Whirlpool.”

Oops.

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The reality of higher tariffs on steel and aluminum has caught up with the appliance manufacturer. In a conference call with investment analysts Tuesday, Bitzer said steel prices are now 60% higher in America than the rest of the world. You know what happens to those higher costs? They're passed on to you. Think of all the things made of steel and aluminum: cars, soda cans, razor blades, cans of tuna fish ... the list is endless. That’s how it works, folks: Trump rolls out tariffs — and eventually, you’re stuck with the bill.

Americans, not Trump, will pay for tariffs

You’ll likely pay for Trump’s tariffs in another way as well, in the form of a pinched 401(k) or IRA account. For example, the stock price of Alcoa, the aluminum giant, has collapsed about a third since April. Why should you care? Because chances are pretty good that the investment company managing your money owns millions of shares. Two of Alcoa’s biggest owners, for example, include asset-management giants Vanguard and the American Funds.

Again, that’s just one company. Whirlpool’s down about 20% since Friday alone, and since peaking in January, both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average have declined, with the Dow off more than 5%.

If you’re a Trump supporter, here’s an honest question: Does 1) paying more for stuff while 2) taking an investment hit sound like winning?

In a Kansas City speech Tuesday, Trump pointed to the TV cameras and told his audience at a convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars: “Don’t believe the crap you see from these people.” His supporters can call it “fake news” if they wish, but here on planet Earth, the reality is increasingly evident.

Just to show you how badly the president and his advisers have miscalculated here, Trump’s hard-line trade chief Peter Navarro said, "I don't believe any country is going to retaliate for the simple reason that we are the most lucrative and biggest market in the world."

And Trump himself promised you that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.”

How’s all that working out?

Paul Brandus, founder and White House bureau chief of West Wing Reports, is the author of "Under This Roof: The White House and the Presidency" and a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors. Follow him on Twitter @WestWingReport​​​​​​