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Ms. Truss, Britain’s prime minister for 44 days, was forced out after her radical policies caused a market meltdown. But there are some key differences with President Trump.
April 8, 2025Updated 5:25 a.m. ET
A major Western leader announces an unorthodox economic policy, panicking the financial markets, driving down the country’s currency and fueling a blizzard of warnings about the dire long-term consequences.
President Trump did all this with his across-the-board tariffs, announced last week, but before him, there was Liz Truss, Britain’s former prime minister, with her rollout of sweeping tax cuts over 44 turbulent days in the fall of 2022.
The parallels between Mr. Trump and Ms. Truss are striking, but for one crucial difference: She was forced to rescind the tax cuts within days, and forced out of office by her own Conservative Party in little more than six weeks, the shortest tenure for a prime minister in British history.
To some analysts, that difference is a tribute to the flexibility of Britain’s parliamentary government and a salutary distinction between Britain and the United States. So far, Mr. Trump has vowed to stick with his tariffs, no matter the carnage they wreak in the markets or whether they trigger a recession, and there seems to be little anybody can do to force him to change course.
“Truss could really only damage the United Kingdom,” said Jonathan Portes, a professor of economics and public policy at Kings College London. “Ultimately, U.K. institutions, in particular Parliament and the media, were enough to ensure that the system worked.”
“Whether that is the case in the U.S. remains to be seen,” he added. “If it isn’t, the whole world will pay the price.”
