Endorsement: Laura Bassett for Senate District 38

• September 25, 2026

California Senate District 38 is one of the most competitive legislative races in the state.

The district spans both Orange County and San Diego County. On the Orange County side, the district includes Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita and San Juan Capistrano. The coastal district then goes down through U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton through Oceanside, Encinitas and northern portions of the city of San Diego.

This election, as with four years ago, the choice is between two principled representatives of their respective parties.

Democrat Catherine Blakespear, a former mayor of Encinitas, defeated Republican businessman Matt Gunderson four years ago in a relatively tight 52% to 48% contest.

This time, Sen. Blakespear is facing off against Republican businesswoman Laura Bassett. As the only two candidates in the primary, the electorate delivered a similar 52% to 48% split in favor of Blakespear. The question, then, is whether Blakespear can maintain her lead or if Bassett can close the gap and emerge victorious.

Blakespear, an attorney by trade, is a staunch liberal Democrat deeply concerned with climate change and an enthusiast of mass transit. Bassett, who works in real estate and as a professional fiduciary, offers a common sense conservative message of limited government, lower taxes and local control.

To level set, both Blakespear and Bassett support Proposition 13 and oppose the billionaire tax. They both supported Proposition 36 to tighten certain criminal penalties and want the state to invest more in treatment. Recognizing both the innate beauty and economic value of the coast, they are also both committed to protecting the shoreline.

They also aren’t so different when it comes to questionable legislation—particularly as it pertains to police and fire unions. Blakespear voted for Assembly Bill 1383 to boost public safety pensions, a bill so fiscally irresponsible Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it. Bassett, unfortunately, conceded she didn’t know enough about the ramifications of the bill, though she added, “the men and women who run toward danger deserve a secure retirement and leaders who listen to them.” So that’s a wash.

There are some aspects of Blakespear’s legislative record that we certainly agree with. She has authored and supported a litany of pro-housing bills, which is why she is backed by California YIMBY. She is also rightly frustrated with the state’s slow progress on homelessness, arguing it is “not compassionate to let people deteriorate on the street.” We also appreciate her ongoing work on the state’s End of Life Option Act.

However, her broader record tells a different story — from her nanny-state championing of plastic bag bans to her recently vetoed bill narrowing CEQA exemptions for advanced manufacturing facilities — Blakespear’s voting record consistently leans into the sort of overregulation that drives up the cost of living and doing business in California.

Just this session, she voted to place Assembly Constitutional Amendment 7 on the ballot, which would overturn the state’s ban on granting preferential treatment on the basis of race or other factors in California’s K-12 public education system. She also voted for Assembly Bill 1776 to allow the government to crack down on large companies.

On ACA 7, Bassett says she would have voted against it. “Any government preference based on race is wrong, plain and simple,” she argues. “Judging children by skin color instead of merit is the thinking we spent generations fighting to leave behind.”

On AB 1776, Bassett correctly notes, “California is one of the hardest, most expensive places in the country to run a business, and that’s why so many are leaving and taking jobs with them. We should be making it easier to build and hire here, not adding new reasons for employers to pack up and go. Lower prices and real competition come from keeping businesses in California, not pushing them out.”

One may counter that it’s easy for Bassett to criticize someone with a voting record and point to her lack of legislative experience. It is true she hasn’t been elected to office before, but that is not to say she is uninvolved in her community. Beyond her business work, she currently serves as a San Diego County Civil Service Commissioner and as an ambassador for the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce.

Fundamentally, as useful as political experience can be, holding office does not automatically or necessarily bestow wisdom. If anything, the opposite is usually true.

None of this is to say we agree with Bassett on everything. While she rightly notes taxes and regulations make it expensive and difficult to build housing, she also champions “local control,” which has historically and primarily been exercised to block housing across the state.

But she gets the big picture right: California government is too bloated, there is not enough accountability, and both businesses and individuals are overtaxed and overregulated by bureaucrats in Sacramento.

Accordingly, we endorse Laura Bassett.

​ Orange County Register 

Asian American Museum at Great Park hosts educational community gatherings, cultural celebrations

• September 25, 2026

An expansive 220,000-square-foot museum celebrating Asian American history and culture will join the Irvine Great Park sometime in the next decade. In the meantime, museum leaders hope to foster a stronger sense of community across Orange County as they raise support for the building’s construction.

The museum will host several food demonstrations and Mahjong activities at the sixth annual Mid-Autumn Festival at the Great Park on Friday, Sept. 25.

Another recently held event was part of its Rooted in Flavor program, a series of immersive dining experiences that explore a different Asian cuisine alongside its cultural history, the museum’s Executive Director Jack Toan said.

The idea came to museum leaders from conversations with community members and business partners to gauge public interest, he said. Food was a recurring topic.

“The Asian American community as a whole — our lives and our culture — really revolves around food,” Toan said. “Food just happens to be one way that we sit down and get to people’s hearts.”

But it isn’t just about eating, Toan said.

“It’s also a gathering time for families to come together and share with each other and just tell stories,” Toan said.  “It’s a way to pass on legacy, whether that’s recipes or stories handed down by grandparents while they’re sitting at the dinner table. That’s what we’re trying to recreate.”

Food remains an important aspect across cultures, but some cuisines are more mainstream than others, he said. Through its series, the museum hopes to increase visibility for underrepresented Asian ethnic groups.

Last month’s Rooted in Flavor event took place at TERRACE By Mix Mix, a Filipino fusion restaurant located at South Coast Plaza.

While Filipinos are among the largest Asian ethnic groups and some of the earliest individuals to have immigrated to the United States, their cuisine is not widely available, said Oliver Wang, a sociology professor at Cal State Long Beach, who has studied Asian American pop culture, including culinary history, for over 30 years.

Despite the fact that more than 4.5 million Filipinos live in the United States, there are only about 2,000 Filipino restaurants that exist across the country, Wang said.

“Filipino cuisine, I think, is just at the beginning of breaking into a greater awareness,” Wang said. “I think that it is both a challenge for restaurateurs to be able to make Filipino cuisine legible, but that also means there’s all of this potential and excitement.”

Food represents how culture has evolved uniquely among members of the Asian diaspora living in America, Wang said.

As one of the Asian American Museum at Great Park’s focuses — the campus will include a dining area with incubator kitchens to kickstart new Asian food businesses — food represents a key part of Asian American culture and identity, both locally and nationally, Wang said.

“The thing about Asian American food is that for a lot of our parents, who are immigrants, food was an economic means to mobility,” Wang said. “They didn’t do it because they necessarily loved food, but it was a way for them to make a living. With their kids and younger generations of Asian Americans, food is about identity, it’s about community, it’s about a pathway for expression and empowerment.”

Ross Pangilinan, the owner and chef behind TERRACE by Mix Mix, said he was excited to feature both traditional and fusion dishes during the event’s menu. In between courses, he spoke with Wang and Toan about the food’s cultural significance.

The menu included classic Filipino dishes, as well as ones with American and European influences, such as shrimp lumpia, chicken barbecue, and pinakbet, a traditional Filipino vegetable stew.

“When I do Filipino dishes, it’s always inspired by my childhood and the dishes I grew up eating,” Pangilinan said. “The flavors are really delicious, and you’ve just got to go out and try it.”

During the Mid-Autumn Festival Friday night, the museum will host a demonstration cooking with the pomelo fruit with Chef Jessica VanRoo, a mooncake demonstration with 1983 Bakery and a Japanese tea demonstration with Omotesenke Domonkai of Southern California.

The festival is 5 to 9:30 p.m. in the Irvine Great Park Palm Court Arts Complex and surrounding area. Information: cityofirvine.gov/midautumn

​ Orange County Register 

Endorsement: Tri Ta for Assembly District 70

• September 25, 2026

Voters in Assembly District 70 have their pick of two well-meaning candidates to represent them in Sacramento.

The district, which centers around Westminster and Garden Grove but spans from Los Alamitos down to Huntington Beach, has been represented by former Westminster Mayor Tri Ta for the last four years.

Ta, a Republican, is a reliably conservative vote on matters of government spending, regulation and taxation. He has maintained an “A” or “A+” rating from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association over his years in the state Capitol.

“We need to give opportunities for business to grow,” he told us, noting his skepticism of the relentless push by the Legislature for new and costly mandates. Ta also criticized the state’s opaque budget process, the lack of serious audits in state programs and the budget shell games which mask the severity of the state’s structural budget problems.

Ta is also appropriately proud of his 2024 legislation, introduced with Democratic Sen. Tom Umberg and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, promoting education about the groundbreaking decision in Mendez v. Westminster School District of Orange County. That’s the 1947 federal ruling declaring unconstitutional the segregation of Mexican Americans in California schools. He followed that up this year with legislation designating Sylvia Mendez Day, honoring the Westminster resident and civil rights activist at the center of the historic case.

As a member of the superminority, Ta is politically locked out of most of the decision-making in the Capitol, but is willing to ally with moderate Democrats if it means countering the far-left. “There are some moderate Democrats willing to work with us,” he told us. “There are some far-left Democrats who are loud and scare the moderate Democrats.”

In this political context, though he can only get so much done legislatively, Ta’s presence in the Legislature is mainly beneficial because he will normally be a “No” vote on the worst ideas of the supermajority.

For these reasons alone, we have been inclined to support him.

On housing policy, while Ta is in our view overly committed to “local control” narratives that privilege the ability of local governments to block housing, Ta has voted for his share of housing streamlining bills. This includes legislation fast-tracking townhome development and factory-built houses, as well as legislation aiding accessory dwelling units.

Ta also notably expressed opposition to mass surveillance, including via the increasingly ubiquitous Automated License Plate Readers. But then when asked if the federal government should be allowed to access data from such surveillance systems in California, Ta said they should. We’ll judge that a wash on his civil liberties commitments, but his initial instincts seem right.

Overall, Ta is a sensible conservative trying to do right by taxpayers in a one-party state.

Still, we also considered his challenger, Paula Swift, who initially ran in this cycle as a congressional candidate in the 40th District before switching to this race. Swift emphasized that, being in the superminority, Ta doesn’t have a seat at the table and that unlike Ta she is prepared to combat the Trump administration.

But the existence of the supermajority cuts both ways: the fact there’s already a supermajority means the Legislature doesn’t necessarily need another Democrat in the Legislature, or another person ready to fight Trump.

Most importantly, though, Swift does not seem particularly well-versed on state policy. She was seemingly unaware of the debates around the California high-speed rail project or pension reform, for example. What policy views she did express either overlapped with Ta, including on housing, or veered far to the left as she argued “we have to move forward with the wealth tax.”

Ultimately, we don’t see the case for ousting a voice for taxpayers and business in exchange for reinforcing the left-flank of the supermajority. We only see a case for turning the incumbent to Sacramento, because he has a perspective sorely lacking in the Capitol.

Re-elect Tri Ta.

​ Orange County Register 

DSRT Surf, in the makings for a decade, officially opens to public

• September 25, 2026

There’s a buffet of waves officially on offer in the desert.

DSRT Surf officially opened its calendars to the public for reservations on Thursday, Sept. 24, after a long-awaited debut this summer that has been years in the making.

The wave pool in Palm Desert has two sections that can hold up to 28 surfers on each side, though in some sessions like the “pro barrel,” fewer surfers will occupy the pool.

The pool, using Endless Surf technology, is said to be able to deliver 1,000 waves per hour and is being described as the largest of its kind in North America.

Do you want big carves and critical turns? That will cost you about $290. Prefer barrels? Getting pitted will be about $370 to $380 an hour.

Going to DSRT Surf during weekdays will shave off about $20 on price. But want to rent out the whole wave pool, offering both lefts and rights? That will run you a cool $19,000 for an hour.

DSRT Surf has been more than a decade in the making, one of several wave pool projects popping up across the country and in Southern California, already known for its wave-rich coastline.

Similar Wavegarden Cove technology is being used in Virginia Beach, led by Beach Street Operations, the same group behind the Palm Desert project.

The project is the latest evolution in Southern California’s surf landscape, where changing technology and a desire among surfers for consistent, uncrowded waves have made man-made waves more attractive. For novices, wave pools offer a controlled setting before hitting the beach.

The DSRT Surf project follows the opening of the Palm Springs Surf Club in 2024, a smaller operation built in a former Wet ‘n Wild water park. Another private wave pool in nearby La Quinta at Coral Mountain Desert Club, called Thermal Beach Club, broke ground last month and is expected to open in 2028.

Ocean Kamp is under construction in Oceanside.

The pool at DSRT Surf boasts a 9 million-gallon lagoon. The entire project site is 17.8 acres nestled between the two iconic Desert Willow golf courses.

Job fairs were held through the summer as operators put final touches on the resort. Already, pro surfers and industry insiders have been testing out the pool in recent weeks, with clips showing them riding waves in the crystal-clear waters.

The Wavegarden Cove technology being used has settings for barrels, long intermediate rides or soft beginner waves. Size, shape, height of the wave, length, frequency, power and speed can all be customized.

Wavegarden has been a leader in creating man-made waves, with its first project, Surf Snowdonia, opening in the United Kingdom in 2015. Since then, it has built pools around the world, including in Australia, Switzerland and Brazil.

The idea of man-made wave pools is not a new concept, with attempts as far back as the ’80s. But instead of mimicking the ocean, early waves rushed like a river toward a surfer, making them more novelty waves. It was only in recent years that technology caught up to provide surf-worthy rides.

There will be a learn-to-surf program with rolling, mellow waves available, and a main wave that will draw more experienced surfers. The waves will be ordered from a menu before the session.

The entire space can accommodate 3,500 people.

A second phase is expected to add a 139-room resort hotel and 57 villas.

For more information: dsrtsurf.com

​ Orange County Register 

Endorsement: Kate Sanchez for the 71st Assembly District

• September 25, 2026

California is close to becoming a one-party state. Assemblywoman Kate Sanchez wants to make sure there’s an alternative to Democratic Party dominance. She’s running for reelection in the conservative 71st District. It includes Rancho Santa Margarita, where she’s based, and Mission Viejo, Temecula, Murrieta, Wildomar and some unincorporated areas in Orange and Riverside counties. 

She’s one of only 19 Republicans in the California Assembly facing 60 Democrats. That’s a superminority, meaning less than one-third, and it means the supermajority can pass anything requiring only legislative approval, including tax increases, without even so much as a nod to the superminority.

We asked Sanchez how she can get anything done in that circumstance. “I get that question a lot,” she told us in our endorsement interview. “I’ll be honest with you. It’s hard to get legislation passed. I see my role as the voice of balance, of the voter who has been forgotten.”

Her Democratic opponent, J.J. Galvez, an entrepreneur who serves as a board member of the Silverado-Modjeska Recreation and Park District, argued the district would be better off being represented by someone in the supermajority. He said belonging to the supermajority, “for better or worse, means we can make the system work at a much faster pace than at the federal level due to the gridlock there” between the two parties. 

We found Galvez’s forthrightness refreshing, as well as his unorthodox positions. He said his party has made a lot of mistakes and “our de facto solution to problems has tended to be, throw money at a problem,” and argued parts of government need to be “downsized.” He’s “super open” to suspending the gas tax during tough times like now and surprised us by being one of the only candidates for Assembly critical of Assembly Bill 1383. 

Galvez told us he opposed “unwinding” the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act. It was the signature achievement of Gov. Jerry Brown. Among other things, it restricted the pension spiking and retroactive benefit boosts that had brought the system into crisis. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed AB 3183 on Sunday, Sept. 20. 

By contrast, Sanchez voted for AB 1383 in January. While noting she was worried about the slippery slope of encouraging further pension boosting, she told us she wanted to be “thoughtful” of “our first responders” when she voted for it. If only she were more thoughtful of taxpayers and local governments shouldering the burden of high pension costs. 

It’s bad votes like that which kept us open-minded about Galvez.

Unfortunately, in other areas, Galvez’s solutions to the state’s problems are more taxing and spending. That’s shown in the two candidates’ opposing positions on most of the Nov. 3 ballot measures. Galvez backs, while Sanchez opposes: Proposition 1, a housing bond. Proposition 4, public campaign financing. Proposition 37, a home loan program. And Proposition 40, the billionaires’ tax.

While Sanchez emphasized she’s a ‘hard no’ on Prop. 40, Galvez explained it’s the measure he feels most strongly about.

“People are on edge,” he later explained of public upset over healthcare. “I’m not interested in stoking that anger. I’m interested in defusing it, by showing people that the system can still ask the most fortunate to contribute their fair share in a crisis. Asking billionaires to help isn’t an attack on success. It’s how you protect a society where success is still celebrated.”

Unfortunately, Galvez’s open-mindedness has taken him to a position that even Katie Porter is rejecting. Prop. 40 is self-evidently absurd and absolutely an attack on success – and by one of the most cynical actors in the state, SEIU-UHW. 

That said, we liked Galvez, a thoughtful young candidate who studied economics and entrepreneurship at Loyola Marymount University. We recommend he read, or re-read, “Capitalism and Freedom” by Nobel economics laureate Milton Friedman. 

Sanchez isn’t much of a policy wonk, to be sure, but she knows what she needs to know to vote no on most of the nonsense out of Sacramento. Sometimes, you just have to keep it simple: no to more taxes, no to more regulations, no to more mandates.

We endorse her reelection.

​ Orange County Register 

ACLU sues ICE in LA seeking records on use of full-body restraint suits

• September 25, 2026

By FRED SHUSTER | City News Service

A civil rights group sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thursday in Los Angeles, seeking the release of agency records concerning the use of the WRAP, a full-body restraint device used on individuals in immigration custody and during transportation and deportation operations.

Sometimes referred to as “the burrito” or “the bag,” the WRAP is frequently used on immigrants during deportation flights and for prolonged periods, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

“Individuals subjected to the device have reported difficulty breathing, chest pressure, loss of sensation and serious injuries, while medical and use-of-force experts have warned that prolonged or improper use of full-body restraints can create significant risks of positional asphyxia, circulatory distress and death,” the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court states.

The ACLU alleges that reports suggest ICE personnel have used the WRAP as punishment for undocumented individuals who protested their deportations or sought to communicate with attorneys.

The reports “are particularly troubling given longstanding questions about the policies and safeguards” governing ICE’s use of the device, according to the complaint.

A message sent to ICE seeking comment was not immediately answered after regular business hours.

In November 2024, in its annual report to Congress, the Department of Homeland Security’s civil rights office opened a complaint alleging ICE “inappropriately” used the WRAP and did not use operate the device in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, “which caused breathing difficulty and pain, failed to consider medical and psychological conditions prior to use and lacked sufficient monitoring,” according to the 21-page lawsuit.

The ACLU also contends that ICE’s current Air Operations Handbook “provides little substantive guidance concerning when, how or under what safeguards the device may be deployed.”

The Freedom of Information Act request seeks ICE records to determine the extent and manner of the agency’s use of the WRAP, the policies and criteria governing its deployment and the agency’s oversight of its safety and compliance with legal requirements, according to the suit.

“The requested records are necessary to evaluate whether ICE’s practices comport with constitutional requirements, medically accepted standards and the agency’s own policies and obligations,” the ACLU stated.

When used during deportations, individuals were immobilized for extended periods in positions posing elevated risk of breathing impairment and circulatory distress, according to the lawsuit, which says medical experts have cautioned that prolonged immobilization in seated or bent-forward positions increases the danger of asphyxia, especially for people with respiratory or cardiac vulnerabilities.

“Individuals described an inability to breathe, chest pressure and loss of sensation while restrained,” the suit says.

The complaint cites an October 2025 article in which Associated Press identified a dozen fatal cases in the last decade “where local police or jailers around the U.S. used the WRAP and autopsies determined ‘restraint’ played a role in the death.”

​ Orange County Register 

Man who was shot during 2024 Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, has died

• September 24, 2026

By GENE JOHNSON and JULIE CARR SMYTH

James Copenhaver, one of three campaign rally attendees shot in 2024 during an assassination attempt on then-candidate Donald Trump, has died in Pittsburgh, his lawyer said Thursday. He was 76.

Copenhaver was in the bleachers during the event in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a 20-year-old gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop, grazing Trump’s right ear with one bullet. Copenhaver was struck in the arm and in the abdomen, wounds that left him with lingering injuries and walking with a cane.

Two other attendees were also shot — David Dutch, who survived, and Corey Comperatore, who shielded his family from gunfire and was killed.

Copenhaver died Wednesday at Allegheny Health Network’s West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh, according to a statement from the Allegheny County medical examiner cited in local media accounts.

Copenhaver’s lawyer, Joseph Feldman, said in a statement issued on behalf of the family that he died surrounded by loved ones. The statement did not specify if his death was directly related to the injuries he suffered at the rally.

Copenhaver and his wife, Marianne Copenhaver, sued the federal government in June, alleging that the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security had “utterly failed” to provide appropriate security at the rally. Copenhaver’s injuries required multiple surgeries, including a transection of his colon, and he had lingering kidney and other damage, including a loss of feeling in his leg. The lawsuit described the wounds as “debilitating, grievous, permanent and life altering.”

The family’s statement Thursday called Copenhaver above all else a devoted husband, father and grandfather who instilled the values of hard work, integrity and the service to others in his children.

“James’s dedication to this great country was a defining part of his life,” it said. “As a veteran, he proudly served our nation in the armed forces, and his love of country never wavered. James was a true American patriot who believed deeply in the freedoms and ideals upon which this nation was founded, and he embodied the very best traits of our great nation.”

The White House did not immediately comment on Copenhaver’s death. In a statement posted to social media, the House Republican Conference said he had “endured unimaginable hardship with strength and perseverance.”

“We join his family and loved ones in mourning his loss and praying for them during this difficult time,” the statement said.

Johnson reported from Seattle and Smyth from Columbus, Ohio.

​ Orange County Register 

As Trump and Xi meet, can we get some clarity on trade policy?

• September 24, 2026

Chinese President Xi Jinping landed at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington on Wednesday and was met personally on the tarmac by President Donald Trump. The agenda included an elaborate Rose Garden military review and official state dinner in the White House’s East Room.

Most of that chichi was just foreplay before Thursday’s negotiations to extend the one-year trade war truce between the nations that’s set to run out in November. It’s quite the welcome for a leader of a country the administration calls America’s chief adversary.

Then again, it’s no easy thing to follow the details of Trump’s trade policy.

His first term was different. Trump’s Section 301 tariffs and most of the other tariffs starting in 2018 were aimed almost exclusively at China. They were misguided because they were mostly applied to products with no national security significance, like furniture and home appliances, but they were theoretically related to the unique challenge posed by one nation.

Trump’s second term has been widely different. In 2025, he raised the average U.S. tariff on the rest of the world from 3% to more than 18%. Officially, the rationale is to establish some leverage against every trade partner, no matter how friendly, plus good old protectionism and a little tariff revenue tossed in for good measure. The U.S. Trade Representative describes this strategy as using tariffs to defend American economic and national security and to promote balanced and reciprocal trade. China is just one part of this wide-ranging fight.

If you’re confused by all these goals, you’re not crazy. Leverage in negotiations requires tariffs you can trade away for something else. Revenue from tariffs requires imports to keep coming. Protection requires them to stop. One instrument cannot simultaneously hit all three targets.

Plus, let’s be honest, it’s convenient to make dubious promises to the American people. Last November, the administration promised a $2,000 dividend check to low- and middle-class Americans, paid for with tariff revenue. Another promise of free money came just a few weeks ago: $5,000 for every adult American if Republicans keep the House and Senate in the upcoming midterm elections—also paid by tariffs. A bigger defense budget? Balancing the budget? Paying down the debt? Eliminating the income tax? Tariffs can pay for that too. Best of all, Congress won’t have to cut a single spending program!

Tariffs are indeed raising some revenue, totaling $264 billion last year. But that was funded almost entirely on the backs of American consumers. Additionally, more than half of these revenues came from unconstitutional levies that the administration is now refunding to American companies.

Amid all this confusion, the administration still leans hard on the China story. To be fair, China does present some real national security challenges. Beijing has shown willingness to weaponize rare-earth export licenses, threatens Taiwan and engages in corporate espionage. The administration has cause to address the legitimate threats with targeted tools, but its actual policies and rhetoric have made that harder while damaging American prosperity.

For instance, an all-out trade war with just about every country certainly does not lessen our dependence on China. A July New York Times story described a small American flashlight importer that spent years pursuing supply from Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Then Trump’s latest tariffs put those countries’ rates at roughly the same level as the rate on Chinese goods, so the importer shifted back to his Chinese supplier. That’s Trump’s trade policy in one anecdote.

While we shouldn’t worry too much about where our flashlights come from, all of this makes America less safe. As scholar Samuel Gregg explains in a study for the American Institute for Economic Research, it boils down to the fact that military power rests on economic power. The United States outlasted the Soviet Union in part because a larger, faster-growing economy let it match Moscow’s defense spending while committing a smaller share of its output to the effort. Tariffs erode the U.S. advantage by raising costs for American producers and slowing growth, shrinking the economic base that funds the Pentagon.

Protectionism also costs us friends. Gregg points to the Morrill Tariff of 1861, which angered Britain (a country with every reason to back the Union against the slaveholding South) enough to settle into an uneasy Civil War neutrality. In recent weeks, Trump’s furious attack on Canada has not just alienated our closest neighbor, dependable trading partner and NATO ally. It sent one friend running into the arms of China. Some might be eager to call the move stupid in the name of owning Trump. The more important reality is that it makes America weaker.

Finally, stretching the term “national security” to cover every steel mill and auto plant drains it of meaning. A government that calls everything a security threat will have trouble rallying allies, or voters, when a real one arrives.

Maybe the Xi-Trump meeting will clarify some of this. I doubt it.

Veronique de Rugy is the George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy and a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

​ Orange County Register