[ ABOUT ]
[ EMAIL ]
#4
Pick one of the following stories and design a carousel for Instagram. Please include the text and visuals you plan to use and explain why you chose the piece and made the editorial and design choices you made. You can use any of the photos/visuals within the column or find ones yourself. (You can also include mocks of the cards, but that is optional.)
Trump’s tariffs can’t
cover a bill this staggering
OPINION| Editorial Board
Trump says tariffs will pay for his promises.
We ran the numbers, and they just don’t pencil. →
SLIDE 2
[ GRAPHIC ]
This block represents the $264 billion of tariff revenue in 2025, according to the Treasury. In 2024, tariff revenue was $79 billion.
The 2025 figure includes tariffs that already existed before Trump took office, as well as the new ones he added. For the sake of argument, let’s give Trump credit for the full $264 billion.
SLIDE 3
[ GRAPHIC ]
“President Trump and the White House have identified a creative solution to transfer resources from Section 232 tariff revenue to this critical program.”
Karoline Leavitt, U.S. press secretary
SLIDE 4
[ GRAPHIC ]
“Those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we’re talking about, including child care.”
Donald Trump, on child care costs being relatively small compared to tariffs foreigners would pay
SLIDE 5
[ GRAPHIC ]
“We’ll put tremendous amounts of money, through all this money that will be taken in through tariffs and other intelligent things.”
Donald Trump, on how tariff revenue would also seed a new sovereign wealth fund for the U.S.
SLIDE 6
[ GRAPHIC ]
“We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs.”
Donald Trump, on how the warrior dividend for members of the military was possible due to tariffs
SLIDE 7
[ GRAPHIC ]
“The United States will be taking a small portion of the hundreds of billions of dollars we receive in tariffs.”
Donald Trump, on bailing out farmers hurt by his trade policies. The bailouts cost the Agriculture Department $12 billion
SLIDE 8
[ GRAPHIC ]
In October 2025, Trump discussed with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent a proposed “Ukraine victory fund,” redirecting tariffs from Chinese goods to support Ukraine’s defense. The administration gave no figure, but we estimate it at roughly $20 billion.
SLIDE 9
At this point, that adds up to $46 billion of the tariff revenue.
[ GRAPHIC ]
But that’s only scratched the surface of what Trump has promised to do with the money raised by taxing imports.
SLIDE 10
All told, for Trump to keep his promises on what tariff revenue would be used for, he’d need them to raise almost $6 trillion this year.
[ GRAPHIC ]
“The U.S. imported $3.61 trillion in goods last year, so such a number isn’t even possible.”
SLIDE 11
For the full breakdown, visit the link in @postopinions’ bio.
Stories that include data visualization consistently perform better on Instagram than text only posts. Audiences respond strongly to clear breakdowns of large numbers, especially when complex policy is made legible through visual progression. Tariffs and Trump are also high interest topics that reliably generate engagement. On the day it was published, this story made it to the Post’s Most Read list, indicating both timeliness and audience appetite.
I adapted the interactive’s core narrative and design system, particularly its step by step accumulation of Trump’s promises against projected tariff revenue. The first slide establishes the claim that tariffs will fund major promises and invites viewers into the math. The second slide grounds the premise in base revenue, giving readers the necessary context for what follows. Subsequent slides layer in direct quotes tied to specific promises, each accompanied by graphic visual renderings matching the corresponding increase in shaded blocks. This creates a steady visual build that allows audiences to watch the available revenue diminish in real time.
Rather than paraphrasing, I chose to use the quotes from each segment in the story. I did this to mirror the desk’s use of quotes as a narrative anchor, a strategy used frequently in social media. Pairing quotes with graphics allows readers to engage with the carousel through tone as well as data.
The final slides present the story’s conclusion while inviting readers to further engage with the piece. Nearly $6 trillion would be required to fulfill the promises, yet the United States imported only $3.61 trillion in goods last year. The closing call to action directs readers to the full interactive for the complete breakdown.