Trump Says 'Potential' Tariff Deals Negotiated With Three Countries
In a town hall call-in appearance April 30, President Donald Trump said that his administration has “potential” tariff deals negotiated with South Korea, Japan and India, but said they weren’t in a hurry to announce them -- “it can wait two weeks.”
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Trump made two public appearances April 30 during which he took questions on tariffs. During the town hall, hosted by NewsNation, moderator Bill O’Reilly asked if Trump had a timeline for stabilizing the economy and quieting voters’ fears regarding reciprocal tariffs -- currently on pause until July 8.
Trump told the moderators that he was in “less of a hurry” than O’Reilly to announce any deals with South Korea, Japan and India, because “we don’t need” the countries. They, on the other hand, are “desperate” to negotiate deals with the United States, he said.
O’Reilly said that if the confusion surrounding the tariffs continues through the next year, Republicans may suffer in the midterm elections. Trump agreed, but appeared unconcerned.
“I just think I will be able to convince people how good this is,” he said.
He made similar comments in an in-person interview with ABC reporter Terry Moran that day. Moran asked the president to respond to supporters anxious about the tariffs.
“People are worried, even some people who voted for you, saying, ‘I didn't sign up for this.’ So how do you answer those concerns?”
“Well, they did sign up for it, actually,” Trump said. “And this is what I campaigned on.”
Moran also asked what he’d say to small businesses concerned about the tariffs. He answered that, because of the tariffs, “companies are flooding into our country right now” and said that “everything’s going to be just fine.”
He addressed current economic relations with China in both appearances. Although he didn’t directly call the U.S. policy regarding Chinese-origin goods an “embargo," he didn’t dispute it, saying that “they deserve it.”
“China probably will eat those tariffs,” he said. “But at 145[%], they basically can't do much business with the United States.”
He also said that he doesn’t want China “to do business here,” but that “there’s a very good chance we’re going to make a deal, but we’re going to make it on our terms.”
And he discussed his recent partial revocation of automobile tariffs during the town hall, saying that he is still “flexible.” The president explained that he gave U.S. car dealers two years to transition to sourcing all automobile components domestically. If he hadn’t, “it was very tough on these companies,” he said.
“Look, we won a campaign by a lot,” he told Moran. “We won all seven swing states. We won the popular vote by a lot. You know, we had a tremendous campaign. I said all of these things during my campaign. I said, ‘You're gonna have a transition period.’ We've been ripped off by every country all over the world. They're laughing at us. They thought we were stupid people, and we were. And I said, ‘That's not gonna happen. We're not gonna let that happen.’”