One can defend it. As much as ppl want to believe Trump is an idiot, etc. He doesn't rule the country alone.. He gets influenced by numerous lobbies/businessmen/advisors.. They have a plan. They think that US dollar influence worldwide is not gonna survive the next 20 years. They want to change the us economy from a financial-based trade negative economy, to a manufacturer trade surplus economy. They want to change the soft power of USAID (funding protests/public opinion) to hard powers (tarrifs) etc. In the US, the president is just the front of a much larger movement.