General Discussion

If they drive up the price of imports enough to make people use domestic alternatives instead, then the base the tariff is raised from is limited.

If people can't find a domestic alternative, then it is just a sales tax. And the very rich spend their money in ways that don't attract US sales taxes, eg by going abroad and consuming there. Or they hoard money, as investments or inflated real estate, until they can spend it without attracting tax.

You can't base a modern economy on anything other than income tax. You have to "go where the money is". You can tinker at the edges with tariffs and sales taxes, or inheritance taxes, but you need the core of an income tax, because it's hard to avoid.

Yes, it's an awful plan; whether Trump is smart enough to know that, but thinks he can fool MAGA who aren't smart enough, or whether he's as dumb as them, is unclear.