WASHINGTON, D.C. — When Donald Trump started the biggest trade war since the 1930s in his first term, his impulsive combination of threats and import taxes on US trading partners created chaos, generated drama — and drew criticism from mainstream economists who favor free trade.

But it didn't do much damage to the US economy. Or much good. Inflation stayed under control. The economy kept growing as it had before. And America's massive trade deficits, the main target of Trump's ire, proved resistant to his rhetoric and his tariffs: Already big, they got bigger.