President Trump smartly remained quiet after delivering the economic thunder-shock with his national security tariffs and new global trade expectations. Now President Trump takes questions from the media about the initial reactions to the seismic event he created.
“China needs to solve the problem of the trade deficit with have with them,” is codespeak for China needs to open their markets to U.S. companies that have already established a footprint, AND China needs to purchase U.S. goods. Despite the size of China, President Trump knows Beijing will never comply in earnest, so he gives the Panda a few words, but doesn’t give it too much time until the Dragon comes out from behind the mask.
President Trump notes he has “spoken to a lot of leaders from Europe and Asia” this weekend. However, now is that powerful moment in any negotiation when the principal has clearly outlined his position, then remain silent as the opposition responds. The “tariffs are instituted, they are not going away,” Trump said.
When questioned about having a “threshold” of “pain he is willing to tolerate,” President Trump notes the “question is stupid.” We are responding to opposition who are playing a zero-sum game, there is no level of pain too intolerable when ultimately your survival as a nation is at stake. Either we do, and win – or, we do not and die, that is our current status.
When questioned about having a zero-tariff agreement with Europe, President Trump references the scale of the imbalance. “There’s no talk possible” with the EU unless they acquiesce. Every country wants to make a deal, but “this is not sustainable” President Trump repeats.
When questioned about Tik Tok, President Trump notes there was a likely deal with China, but then Beijing responded to the tariffs and said the deal around the social media platform ownership was no longer possible. Trump doesn’t care, he wants a TikTok deal; but ultimately, the tariffs are more important.
President Trump then weaves through the Russia conflict, bombs are still bad, and the Middle east conflict, Gaza is still full of terrorists, and moves directly into domestic national security.
President Trump then reaffirms he has not agreed to reduce, soften or smooth any tariffs against any nation. The tariffs are in place, they will remain in place, and the global trade reset will continue until America wins. Period.
The remarks were ‘Full force Big Ugly‘ and the winnamins were flying off the shelves for 15 straight minutes. I could not be more proud of our president.
