Trump understands the real world, unlike academic “economists” and their idiot mouthpieces in the media. He understood that tariffs would be partially absorbed at each step of the supply chain, and have minimal effect by the time a product reached the shelves. Meanwhile, using the threat of steep tariffs to drive positive trade concessions and bring capital expenditure to the US was totally missed by the “experts.”
You also miss the incredible irony that the news media and Demonrats suddenly found themselves in pure opposition to a tax that would be nearly entirely paid for by corporations. They love sales taxes, even though 100% of sales taxes get passed on to consumers, except to the degree that the inability to afford basic goods creates some price elasticity. But charge a tax that gets paid for by corporations, mostly foreign? And suddenly taxes become unthinkable?