Trump's dueling economic realities will inevitably collide

President Trump seems to think financial markets are perfectly happy with his tariffs and open to his more aggressive approach, because stocks keep hitting all-time highs.Meanwhile, financial markets think there's absolutely no chance Trump will go ahead with the tariffs he's threatened, and therefore ... keep bidding assets up to all-time highs.Why it matters: The two beliefs can't co-exist for much longer, and the disconnect can't end well, either.The big picture: At some point between now and Aug. 1, the U.S. will or will not strike trade deals, and will or will not adjust tariff rates accordingly.That may seem a painfully obvious binary, but almost six months of trade war have taught the world it's not quite as simple as it looks."We have given up speculating about any longer-term strategies in these trade negotiations," ING's global head of macro Carsten Brzeski wrote Monday. Trump claims to be a tariff maximalist, a true believer in the power of customs duties to both raise huge sums of revenue, and persuade other countries to do what he wants — make a trade deal, or end an ally's criminal trial.The White House calls him the "dealmaker-in-chief" for a reason — it's not just his job, it makes him happy. Markets, on the other hand, have seen this playbook before, and know — or think they know — how it always ends: Trump backs down, tariffs get cut or eliminated, rinse and repeat. Yes, but: This time is different.The tariffs are higher, the language is angrier and the pushback from the stock and bond markets is mostly missing.There's also the realization that Trump's trade policy may contradict his industrial policy, but there's no real plan to change either.For example: If you want a manufacturing renaissance and AI dominance, putting (or raising) tariffs on the steel, aluminum and copper you need to build the factories and data centers would seem to be your last move, not your first.Trump did all three in recent weeks, even though the U.S. gets anywhere from a quarter to half of its consumptions via import. "The US is operating under a "'zero sum' framework" that doesn't acknowledge the benefits of trade, per a recent note from Naomi Fink, chief global strategist at Japan's Nikko Asset Management.That framework "involves inflicting losses on trade partners, even if it is not the optimal result for the US itself," Fink said.The intrigue: Markets may keep pushing higher, but the voices saying they shouldn't are growing louder."(We) are increasingly convinced that tariff risks have not been appropriately discounted in financial asset prices," Corpay chief market strategist Karl Schamotta wrote over the weekend."Stock markets look too high, foreign exchange trading ranges too narrow, and measures of background volatility too low, given the material threat that looms over the world economy."His caution echoes the like of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who warned last week about "complacency in the market." For the record: "Stock and bond market rallies, low inflation, trillions in historic investment commitments, and strong wage growth all prove that the Administration's America First agenda of deregulation, tariffs, and the pro-growth tax cuts of The One, Big, Beautiful Bill is paying off," White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. "President Trump remains committed to building on these successes by negotiating – or simply setting – new trade deals that will level the playing field and create new export opportunities for American workers, farmers, and businesses."The bottom line: Aug. 1 is a little more than two weeks away."A moment of reckoning is approaching, whether in markets themselves, or in the White House, when the true impact of America's turn toward isolationist policies hits home," Corpay's Schamotta said."We don't know who will blink, but someone will."

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