Lincoln Square - Doctrine of Destruction: Trump's Economic Endgame

A Warning from Watergate: Woodward Returns

On March 28, 2025, Bob Woodward sat down with The Washington Post’s Colby Itkowitz for his first major interview since Donald Trump’s second inauguration. It was more than a retrospective. It was a warning. A quiet alarm from the man who helped bring down Nixon, now sounding the signal again—this time, not over a break-in, but over the deliberate unraveling of an economy.

Woodward has written books on ten presidents. He’s interviewed Trump extensively. But in this conversation, he didn’t hedge. When asked what Trump’s end goal appears to be, Woodward answered plainly: “It looks like he wants to destroy the economy.”

Doctrine of Destruction: Trump’s Economic Endgame

To understand why a president might do that, you have to understand what he’s trying to build in its place.

During Trump’s first term, in January 2018, he summoned his economic advisors to the Oval Office. He wanted tariffs—aggressive ones. His chief economic advisor, Gary Cohn, warned him that tariffs would backfire. They’d raise prices on American consumers. They’d jeopardize the very stock market gains Trump often boasted about. They’d risk triggering retaliation from allies.

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