Sharp Economic Divide Over President Trump’s Strategy:
A Gamble on the Brink

Economists are truly sharply divided over President Trump’s economic strategy— it’s not due to a lack of a plan as claimed, but because the approach is unconventional, unpredictable, and carries significant risks.

This strategy resembles a high-stakes gamble, akin to economic brinkmanship, where each side waits for the other to yield.

This was evident during the U.S.–China trade war, where the Trump administration-imposed tariffs reaching up to 145% on Chinese imports, prompting China to retaliate with tariffs as high as 125% on U.S. goods.

Unlike traditional economic policies grounded in market stability and international cooperation, this approach relies on aggressive, ad hoc measures: sudden tariffs, threats to decouple supply chains, and attempts to repatriate manufacturing without addressing long-term structural issues. Such actions may offer short-term political gains but with as Trump calls short term pain! His actions introduce uncertainty into global markets and risk retaliatory actions from economic rivals.

Why would Trump and his supporters pursue such a path?

It reflects a combination of overconfidence “arrogance” and a fundamental misreading of China’s economic strategy.

Beijing responded not with submission but with counter-tariffs, strengthened trade ties with other nations, and increased domestic innovation efforts. The assumption that China would quickly fold under pressure underestimated its long-term resilience and strategic patience.

Ultimately, this approach appears less as a coherent economic plan and more as a geopolitical power play to create a new world order — with potentially lasting disastrous consequences for both the U.S. and the global economic order.

Amid this global turmoil, a fundamental question arises:

Where do Islam and the Muslim world stand today? Will we continue to be mere pawns on the geopolitical chessboard—our destinies, our peoples, and humanity at large dictated by others—while we remain passive and disengaged?

Will we continue to spectate as the world oscillates between the greed of capitalism and the tyranny of socialism, despite possessing a divine legacy and a comprehensive economic system capable of rescuing the world from injustice and imbalance?

Is it not time for us to rise as a sovereign Ummah—an empowered nation with immense resources and a civilizational mission—to become a decisive player at the global table, rather than a manipulated piece upon it?

Isn’t it time for Islam to demonstrate its justice and mercy through its economic and financial system—a system that ensures fair distribution of wealth, prohibits monopolies, abolishes oppressive taxation, facilitates healthy circulation of capital, and stabilizes economies by linking currency to gold and silver?

If we turn away from this path, we are not merely abandoning a solution; we are actively excluding ourselves from the divine principles of revival and justice. In doing so, we risk falling into exactly what Allah has warned against: a life of hardship in this world and suffering in the Hereafter. As Allah the Almighty says:

[وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَن ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنكًا وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَى]

“But whoever turns away from My remembrance – indeed, he will have a miserable life, and We will raise him on the Day of Resurrection blind.”[Surat Taha, 20:124].

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Samer Dahsha