Why Is the Trump Administration So Obsessed With Dolls?

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As the uncertain consequences of Donald Trump’s trade war and tariffs continue to play out across the U.S. and world economy, one question looms above any other: Why do Trump and his advisers keep talking about dolls?

For more than a week, the issue of doll prices, doll shortages, and, most crucially, doll-ownership expectations has come up again and again. Are toy dolls some kind of universally applicable economic indicator? Have experts vastly underestimated...