One of Donald Trump’s worst-ever ideas (and that’s really saying something) is dead.

On Thursday afternoon, Scott Bessent announced that after securing exemptions for US corporates from some of the foreign taxes Trump characterized as illegitimate attempts by other nations to encroach upon America’s tax sovereignty, the administration is asking Congress to remove the so-called “revenge tax” provision from the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” legislation.

According to Bessent, OECD Pillar 2 taxes — part of a global agreement which, in the OECD’s words, sought to “address the tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy” — won’t apply to US companies.

With the (not insignificant) caveat that I haven’t reviewed the specifics, Bessent’s announcement appeared to suggest the largest, most profitable multinationals on Earth — companies which habitually take advantage of a hopelessly outdated, piecemeal global tax regime — won’t be subjected to a landmark G20 project the sole purpose of which was to “ensure large multinational enterprises pay a minimum level of tax” on cross-jurisdictional income.

In exchange for the exemption, which Bessent described as “a joint understanding among G7 countries,” the Trump administration will no longer seek to implement what Wall Street variously decried as a tax proviso akin to capital controls.

Bessent called this “a great deal for the American people.” Maybe. It’s certainly a “great deal” for some US corporates who, unless Bessent’s just lying or I’m misinterpreting his statement, will get a free pass on a painstakingly negotiated international arrangement that threatened their bottom lines.

And it’s “great” news that Trump’s no longer pursuing a strategy that might’ve further disincentivized foreign investors from buying US equities and, on some interpretations, might’ve dissuaded them from US corporate credit and Treasurys too.

Further, I suppose you could argue — as Bessent and Trump surely will — that this is quintessential “art of the deal.” Threaten to tax foreign investors for the privilege of owning US financial assets in order to secure tax relief for American companies.

But I’m compelled to ask whether this was ultimately worth it. Just as threatening to let Russia invade and conquer NATO allies is a questionable way to go about securing higher defense spending commitments from alliance members, so too is threatening a de facto user fee for US equities and, potentially, fixed income, a rather heavy-handed strategy for winning tax reprieves that large American multinationals don’t even need.

In other words: This charade, even if the outcome can properly be described as “great,” was another example of Trump trading away trust and demonstrating once again that he views coercion as a first option rather than a last resort.

Anyway, I suppose we should all just be thankful that the “revenge tax” is dead. Because, again, that was one of Trump’s worst-ever ideas in a political career defined by ill-conceived gambits.

Commenting further on Thursday evening, Bessent said the agreement with the rest of the G7 “provides greater certainty and stability for the global economy and will enhance growth and investment in the United States and beyond.”

As Trump would say, “thank you for your attention to this matter.”