President Donald Trump appears as a submarine captain in a new editorial cartoon ordering a torpedo fired at a cargo ship marked TRADE.

The June 5, 2018 cartoon by Steve Sack places Trump at the periscope while a crew member reports the vessel belongs to an ally. Trump responds with the command to fire. The scene draws from the administration's decision earlier that year to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

Those tariffs took effect in June 2018 and immediately strained relations with traditional trading partners. Canada and the EU announced retaliatory duties on U.S. goods ranging from whiskey to motorcycles. Negotiations to update NAFTA were underway at the same time, adding pressure to the talks.

The cartoon uses the submarine setting to illustrate how the policy struck at close allies rather than adversaries. The periscope view and the crew warning emphasize the deliberate choice to proceed despite the identification. The image captures the tension between the administration's focus on trade deficits and the diplomatic costs of targeting partners.