Liz Truss claimed Donald Trump has been “proven right about pretty much everything” – but that’s not exactly accurate.
The former prime minister, who famously spent just 49 days in Downing Street, has become one of the US president’s biggest cheerleaders.
Since being re-elected, Trump has upended the global economy by imposing tariffs on foreign imports, appeared to side with Russia over the Ukraine war and had critics fearing for American democracy with his sweeping use of executive orders.
But the ex-PM, who humiliatingly lost her seat at the last election, appeared to look past all of that.
Writing for The Telegraph, Truss claimed the unpredictable president was right to attack “disastrous” policies like net zero, trade with China, Covid lockdowns and mass migration.
Here’s why she’s wrong.
1. ‘The elite is howling with indiscriminate outrage’ at Trump’s tariffs
The US president rocked the global economy when he slapped huge tariffs – from a base rate of 10% up to the whopping 125% currently imposed on China – on all US imports earlier this month.
That stunned companies around the globe, including enormous firms in the States like Tesla, Nike and Apple.
However, those firms do not encompass the entirety of the so-called “elite”.
Some of the most powerful people in America right now are the ones connected to the administration.
They were not howling but laughing over Trump’s tariffs, as the video below shows.
That’s because many were able to invest huge sums in the market before the president decided to pause the tariffs – causing stocks and shares to rise again.
2. ‘The Paris Climate Accords led to unilateral economic disarmament in the West, especially in Britain’
Trump pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement – a 2015 deal where nearly 200 countries agreed to try and prevent global temperatures rising by more than 1.5C – in January.
Truss is suggesting the agreement has seen more Western nations take on the economic burden of cutting their carbon emissions compared to other countries.
But that overlooks the fact that the US is the world’s second largest annual emitter of planet-warming gases. Its total emissions since the industrial era are the highest of any country.
And, while reducing fossil fuel use and shifting to using renewable energy may seem more expensive initially, it cuts costs in the long-run – and helps to attract investment, according to Carbon Neutral Britain.
3. ‘China has proved to be a malevolent force and is now eating our lunch’
Trump initiated the current trade war with China by slapping huge tariffs on all of its imports to the States – and Beijing has retaliated with 125% reciprocal tariffs.
Both sides have so far shown no inclination to back down, and the impact on the global economy could be severe.
According to the International Monetary Fund, the US and China together account for around 43% of the global economy.
An all-out trade war between the two countries could lead to a slowdown in the global economy, potentially affecting the incomes of millions around the world.
4. ‘Overly draconian Covid lockdowns were a mistake’
Scientists widely credit lockdowns for potentially saving millions of lives around the world before the vaccine rollout could begin.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) calculated in 2020 that 3.2 million people would have died across Europe if not for measures such as telling people to stay at home during the pandemic.
According to the US’s National Library of Medicine, lockdown saved between 866,000 lives and 1,711,000 lives.
5. ‘The deep state is a real threat and was subverting democracy’
Truss has blamed supposed “sabotage” from “unelected bureaucrats” in the civil service and the Bank of England for her own disastrous and short-lived time in office.
But the former PM is overlooking the fact that she entered office without ever facing a general election.
She was chosen by the Conservative members to be Tory leader – and therefor PM – years after the party won the 2019 election.
Meanwhile, Trump has launched the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to tackle supposed “waste, fraud and abuse” within federal teams.
But he himself has been accused of subverting democracy – and not just because he called the 2020 presidential election into question when he lost definitively.
He has also called himself the “king”, filled the US government with loyalists and attacked any media coverage which is negative.
His vice president JD Vance has claimed “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power”.
Trump has also publicly considered changing the US constitution so he could run for a third, unprecedented, term.
6. ‘Mass migration has been an economic and cultural disaster’
Mass migration can help address labour shortages and help economic growth by raising the GDP, especially in countries – like the UK – where the population is ageing.
This benefit is even known as the “immigration surplus”, where the net gains from immigrants outweighs the losses.
7. Collapse of British Steel was ‘engendered by China and net zero’
MPs passed emergency laws to stop the last steel-making site in England from going under over the weekend, after British Steel’s Chinese owner Jingye said it was planning to run it down.
Critics blamed the UK’s eco-friendly policies for driving Scunthorpe to the brink – but it’s not green energy which is driving up electricity prices in Britain but the cost of wholesale gas.
And, for those who call for the Cumbria coal mine to open up to help the process, the produce in the UK would have too much sulfur to be used.
China also denies that Jingye was anything to do with its government, arguing it is a private enterprise.
Downing Street has also dismissed any claims of international sabotage, saying: “We’re not aware of any deliberate acts of sabotage.
“But as the business sector, and I think the industry minister, said over the weekend, in the talks that we were engaging with the Chinese owners, it became clear that they wanted to shut the blast furnaces.
“Obviously this relates to a commercial Chinese company, rather than a state-owned company.”
Truss has made no secret of her admiration for Trump since he announced he was running for office again.
She even donned a “Make America Great Again” cap while attending his inauguration in January, and has openly claimed “the West needs” his second term.
Trump, meanwhile, has never mentioned Truss in public – even when his poor management of the international markets were compared to the ex-PM’s chaotic mini-Budget of 2022.
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