How Political Decisions Affect Your Wallet

That was a close one. Over a period of fifteen to sixteen hours, President Trump tried to deport immigrants to Colombia. Colombia rejected the military plane from landing, resulting in President Trump issuing a 25% tariff (the Trump Tariffs) on all imported goods. Colombia retaliated with its own 25% tariff—tit for tat.

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In part, the issue is that Colombia did not want the deported immigrants to be brought in on military planes. They will now be picked up in Colombia’s planes, typically commercial passenger planes. President Trump was using military planes, which Colombia’s reaction makes sense.

Generally, passenger planes are used to deport immigrants because the cost is far less. One report is that a U.S. C-17 cargo plane costs $28,500 per hour. Costs can average out to $4,675 per immigrant, versus a first-class ticket one way through American Airlines would cost $875 per person. So why use a military airplane instead of a passenger plane? It’s a rhetorical question.

But the bigger issue for us as consumers is how quickly things can change from one moment to the next, and its effect on you financially. That’s why I keep saying to be prepared financially.

• The Trump Tariffs and Debt Management

The Trump Tariffs and Colombia as an Example

As I’ve stated numerous times, if the United States issues a tariff against one country, that country responds with its own tariff, and the costs are passed on to you. A trade war with Colombia would have immediately impacted the economy. Colombia’s imports include coffee, flowers, bananas, and crude petroleum.

For example, at Walmart earlier this week, there were no eggs because of the issue of the H5 bird flu. This has caused the prices of eggs to increase substantially. Little by little, your expenses start to increase. Consider my home state, Florida, which depends on Colombia’s coal exports.

Coal is used for energy products. So, energy costs would rise along with other imports from just one country. I continue to refer to this as the snowball effect, the idea that small expenses or debts can increase. The snowball effect usually refers to paying off debt. It’s a debt strategy of first paying off your credit card with the lowest balance. The snowball effect for debt strategy is controversial because interest continues to increase on the larger debt balances, but at least you see progress.

So, if our expenses increase with no fault on our end, then the only solution to not increase our debt is to cut our expenses or increase our income, which isn’t an option for most of us. If not, we get into more debt.

That’s why I keep saying, be careful and read credible news sources to find out what’s going on with the economy, and apply those issues to your situation so there are no shocks or surprises financially.

• What Will Happen with Student Loans Under a Trump Administration?

My situation serves as a good example. This week, we went to pick up a new car for my wife since she was totaled due to Hurricane Helene. Even though the hurricane occurred in mid-September, it wasn’t until December 30, 2024, that the auto shop could accept the car.

But now, imagine if this happened this year and in 2025, the car is totaled; then the vehicle may be subject to the Trump tariff. If you weren’t aware of the Trump tariffs, you would have to pay thousands of dollars more for the same car. That, or buy a used car imported into the United States before any import taxes. So it’s one way to save money, but you have to be aware of these issues.

Referring back to credible sources, the Trump tariffs also serve as an example of misinformation or disinformation. Tariffs are a tax passed on to the consumer. While the company importing the product pays the import tax, the consumer ultimately pays that additional expense.

But you also see how your finances are affected because if President Trump gets upset at another country and issues a tariff, we pay for it. Is there any logical connection between your finances and President Trump’s issue with other countries? No, but that’s our new political reality. This is why saying chaos creates political instability, which leads to financial instability.

Any questions or comments? Please post them in the comments section of the accompanying YouTube video. I’d love to hear what you think. Take care, everybody.

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