Why did anyone think Trump’s tariffs would be popular?

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Cite

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Hannan, D. (2026, October 30). Why did anyone think Trump’s tariffs would be popular? Washington Examiner. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/4785619/why-anyone-think-trump-tariffs-would-be-popular/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Quick Summary

The author describes their newfound appreciation for Wisconsin after seeing a billboard criticizing President Trump's tariffs policy as they left Milwaukee Airport. The sign asks which is worse between Chicago and tariffs, implying dissatisfaction with the latter. This observation highlights growing public sentiment against Trump's tariffs within the state, suggesting they are unpopular despite initial support from some politicians there.

Written by AI on 2026-11-01, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In late October 2026, British writer Dan Hannan expressed his admiration for Wisconsin during his first visit to the state, noting a billboard near Milwaukee Airport that read "What’s worse than Chicago? Tariffs." This sentiment reflects criticism of former President Trump's tariff policies. Hannan had previously admired Wisconsin's Republican politicians and its conservative reforms but was struck by this specific message critiquing tariffs. The article does not provide further details on the impact or popularity of these tariffs in Wisconsin or other states, focusing instead on Hannan's personal reaction to the billboard.

Written for “Trump Tariffs Unpopularity” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Why this leaning score

The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.15, but all 1 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.

Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.

Leaning score withheld for article 117183: attributed speech only · logged 2026-11-01

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 6 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

withheld

no quote in the article backed the model's score

Publisher signals

70/100

Washington Examiner's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Politics

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-11-01 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Dan Hannan

3 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction

🔮 Even if he gets a government job, he will pass plenty of flagpoles on his way to work.

2026-10-03 · assertive framing · Where do you want to find your immigrants?

🔮 In 2010, when I was running the alliance of European conservative parties, I made sure that Likud could join as a full partner.

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Also by Dan Hannan

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2026-10-03 · Washington Examiner

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Chicago Republican Wisconsin

Subjects

Chicago GPE · 1× Paul Ryan PERSON · 1× Reince Priebus PERSON · 1× Republican NORP · 1× Scott Walker PERSON · 1× Tommy Thompson PERSON · 1× Wisconsin GPE · 1×

Narrative

I had admired the Republican politicians which it supplied so disproportionately: Tommy Thompson, Paul Ryan, Reince Priebus and the privately sweet-natured Scott Walker.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-01

2026-11-01 · Washington Examiner

Why did anyone think Trump’s tariffs would be popular? · assertive framing

Claims (6 extracted, 0 hedged)

I can pinpoint the exact moment that I fell in love with Wisconsin. asserted

I → pinpoint → Wisconsin

I had always had a distant regard for that lake-ringed state. asserted

I → have → state

I had applauded its pioneering reforms on school choice, welfare and the right to work. asserted

I → applaud → choice

I had admired the Republican politicians which it supplied so disproportionately: Tommy Thompson, Paul Ryan, Reince Priebus and the privately sweet-natured Scott Walker. asserted

it → admire → which

But the coup de foudre came only last week, when I visited the state for the first time. asserted

I → come → time

Driving out of Milwaukee Airport, I passed a large billboard that proclaimed: “What’s worse than Chicago? Tariffs.” asserted

What → drive → Tariffs