Back in March, against the explicit wishes of his only sane adviser, Donald Trump imposed global tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum. Since then, the price of steel has increased sharply, with U.S. companies reliant on the metal losing business, laying off employees, and in some cases facing the prospect of closing up shop for good thanks to higher costs. In addition, retaliatory tariffs from China, the E.U., and other countries around the world have caused major losses for everyone from farmers to Harley-Davidson, which has said it’s been forced to shift some production outside the U.S. But President Trump, noted “very stable genius” and longtime businessman, thinks everything is going great.

In an impromptu interview on Wednesday, Trump told The Wall Street Journal that his steel tariffs are reviving an all-American industry that was in danger of collapse. President “Trade wars are good and easy to win” said that while people may complain about higher prices in the short term, prices will ultimately drop and competition will be “internal, like it used to be in the old days when we actually had steel, and U.S. Steel was our greatest company.” He claimed that the tariffs are clearly working because steel companies are opening new plants, and “our steel industry is one of the talks of the world. It’s booming.” Meanwhile, out here in reality:

Many economists, business leaders, and members of Mr. Trump’s own party would take issue with his boasts, arguing that he is both exaggerating the benefits of the policies while understating their significant direct and indirect costs.

While some steelmakers have expanded U.S. production in the wake of the tariffs, other U.S. manufacturers remain heavily dependent on imported metals. Moreover, even the administration’s own estimates of the tariffs’ impact project a reduction in imports, not their elimination, still leaving significant foreign competition for U.S. makers.

Foreign steel companies make large numbers of specialty products that American ones don’t produce, and, experts say, are unlikely to jump into those segments, even with new protections.

As for the steel companies benefitting from the tariffs? They’re almost exclusively giants, who smaller companies say are rigging the game. And speaking of those steel giants:

The president, who broke with tradition to start raising money for his 2020 re-election bid on his first days in office, has received at least $80,000 in contributions from the steel industry. Most were made after Trump announced the tariffs in March.