The bar has been set very high, but this is the most bizarre and bewildering Trump story I've read so far since he was sworn into office.
Trump reportedly called Michael Flynn in the middle of the night to ask him if a stronger or weaker dollar is better.
So he made a call ― except not to any of the business leaders Trump brought into his administration or even to an old friend from his days in real estate. Instead, he called his national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, according to two sources familiar with Flynn’s accounts of the incident.
Flynn has a long record in counterintelligence but not in macroeconomics. And he told Trump he didn’t know, that it wasn’t his area of expertise, that, perhaps, Trump should ask an economist instead.
Trump was not thrilled with that response ― but that may have been a function of the time of day. Trump had placed the call at 3 a.m., according to one of Flynn’s retellings ― although neither the White House nor Flynn’s office responded to requests for confirmation about that detail.
It gives me no pleasure to question the mental health or competence of someone, but I think we have to ask yourselves if Trump is mental ill or challenged in some manner.
Even accepting that Trump is an enormous idiot and unqualified for his position as a given, that doesn't explain a 3 a.m. phone call to the entirely wrong person to ask about the relative value of reserve currency.
And what the hell was he doing up at that hour? Why was he pondering the value of the dollar in the middle of the night?
It's anyone's guess. Maybe he was up all night watching infomercials about gold. That's plausible, isn't it?
Considering that Flynn himself is a crank, we should be concerned that Flynn or someone very close to him thought it was appropriate to leak this. They're alarmed, too.
The answer to the question, by the way, is neither. To ask if a stronger or weaker dollar is better is a misnomer because there are many other global economic factors to consider before you can say which is more beneficial at any given time. A weaker dollar benefits exporters and the tourism industry because foreign currency converts to dollars at a more favorable ratio. A strong dollar, on the other hand, lowers the cost of imports and the price you buy for everyday items.