The Economist: The Dow Jones took a nearly 400-point dive yesterday after President Trump announced that he will impose steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to protect American producers from cheaper foreign metals. The tax will be 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, likely raising the price in the US for beer cans, baseball bats, cars, and more.

Trump revealed his plans after an unannounced meeting with executives of US steel and aluminum companies. He promised the tariffs will be in effect “for a long period of time.” He said, “People have no idea how badly our country has been treated by other countries. They’ve destroyed the steel industry, they’ve destroyed the aluminum industry, and other industries, frankly.”

The move raises the specter of a trade war. Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, and South Korea were the largest suppliers of steel to the United States in 2017, and Canada has already said it might have to retaliate.

Trump made the decision basically over the dead bodies of many pro-trade members of his own party. “Tariffs on steel and aluminum are a tax hike the American people don’t need and can’t afford,” said Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah.

The President tweeted at 5:30 this morning, “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!”

It’s the Bomb: The East Coast is getting hit with a second “bomb cyclone” this winter, bringing snow, heavy rain, high winds and coastal flooding today and tomorrow from the mid-Atlantic to New England. A sudden drop in air pressure is what makes the storm a bomb cyclone in a process called bombogenesis.

Under a full moon, the tide is already at its highest before being topped off with a storm surge. The effects are expected to be severe from eastern Long Island all the way up through Boston. Trees and power lines are down. Some schools are closed. The National Weather Service in Boston tweeted, “Take this storm seriously! This is a LIFE & DEATH situation for those living along the coast, esp those ocean-exposed shorelines; moderate to major flooding; locations becoming inundated, cut off for periods of time; expect structural damage, homes destroyed.”

Fasten Seat Belts: The Georgia legislature voted to dump a proposed $50 million tax break for Delta Airlines, one of the state’s biggest employers, because the company severed its discount deals for members of the National Rifle Association. Delta was expecting to get a break on sales tax for jet fuel.

Delta has its operations hub at Delta is the economic Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, the busiest in the world.

Gov. Nathan Deal, who is expected to sign the bill, said earlier this year in response to a previous controversy, “We were not elected to give the late-night talk show hosts fodder for their monologues or to act with the type of immaturity that has caused so many in our society to have a cynical view of politics.”

Well, evidently they were. The punchline is that Georgia is trying to attract Amazon to build its second headquarters there.

The Gun Beat: President Trump tweeted last night, “Good (Great) meeting in the Oval Office tonight with the NRA!” he didn’t say who was there or what they talked about. Trump says he’s not afraid of the NRA, but the last time he met with them he backed off his pledge to raise the legal age to buy a gun from 18 to 21.

An NRA lobbyist tweeted after the meeting, “POTUS & VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don’t want gun control. #NRA #MAGA.”

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio yesterday introduced his plans for reforms to fight mass shootings, including improved background checks and interventions for potentially dangerous students. He doesn’t propose to do anything about the sales and availability of guns. He has received more than $3 million in donations from the National Rifle Association.

Arctic Spring Break: It snowed in Rome and the temperature was 43 below zero in Norway this week, but it was above freezing in the arctic. Scientists say it hit 35 degrees up there, 50 degrees above normal. Some scientists believe that climate change is weakening the polar vortex that keeps cold air locked in the arctic, allowing it to plunge south.

Office Décor: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson says he has cancelled his order for a $31,000 furniture set for his office dining room. The price was a tad over the $5,000 limit for office furniture makeovers. One HUD official said it might be difficult to cancel the order

Carson ordered the furniture after the Trump administration announced it wants to cut the HUD budget by $6.8 billion. Carson is the man who said about public housing that it should not be “a comfortable setting that would make somebody want to say: ‘I’ll just stay here. They will take care of me.’”

But Carson and other appointed Trump officials clearly want to be comfortable while they stay. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tim Price resigned after splurging $1 million on travel in just nine months in office. A series of reports have revealed that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt charges the government to fly him home to Oklahoma on weekends and goes first class for “security reasons.” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is protected by US Marshals at a cost of a million dollars a month, but in fairness, she does have to visit public schools.

Tweeter in Chief: Here’s what President Trump was thinking and tweeting about at 6:30 this morning. “Alec Baldwin, whose dying mediocre career was saved by his terrible impersonation of me on SNL, now says playing me was agony. Alec, it was agony for those who were forced to watch. Bring back Darrell Hammond, funnier and a far greater talent!”

The country is safe.