President Donald Trump on Tuesday stood by his controversial trade policies in an exclusive interview with ABC News, asserting that China “probably will eat those tariffs” and trying to calm Americans’ economic anxieties.
During a wide-ranging interview with ABC News anchor and Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran, Trump sought to reassure nervous Americans, even as he recently urged them to “hang tough” as tariffs begin to take effect, writing on his social media platform that “it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic.”
“You said that to the American people,” Moran said. “Is that what Americans should expect? Some hard times?”
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“I’ve said that during my campaign,” Trump replied. “Look, we won a campaign by a lot. 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 going to have a transition period.'”
“We’ve been ripped off by every country all over the world. They’re laughing at us,” Trump continued. “They thought we were stupid people, and we were. And I said, ‘That’s not going to happen. We’re not going to let that happen.'”
“But hard times are ahead?” Moran asked.
“I don’t think so,” Trump said. “I think great times are ahead.”
The interview airs on ABC at 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CT. It can also be streamed later Tuesday on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.
Despite Trump’s rosy outlook on the economy, polling suggests widespread anxiety over Trump’s trade policies. More than 7 in 10 Americans believe the economy is in bad shape, see his tariffs as a negative factor in price inflation, and think it’s very or somewhat likely that his economic policies will cause a recession in the short term, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll.
Pressed by Moran for a message to voters who may feel some anxiety at the prospect of higher costs and stock market volatility, Trump claimed that he has delivered on his signature campaign pledge to lower prices on his first day in the White House.
“Look, since I came in gasoline is down, groceries are down, egg prices are down — many things are down, just about everything,” Trump claimed.
Despite economists’ overwhelming concern that Americans will pay higher prices for tariffs on goods from China, Trump asserted that the Chinese “probably will eat those” costs.
“So 145% tariffs on China,” Moran said. “And that is basically an embargo.”
“That’s good,” Trump replied. “They deserve it.”
“It’ll raise prices on everything from electronics to clothing to building houses,” Moran said.
“You don’t know that,” Trump said. “You don’t know whether or not China’s going to eat it.”
“That’s mathematics,” Moran said.
“China probably will eat those tariffs,” Trump replied. “They were ripping us off like nobody’s ever ripped us off … They’re not doing that anymore.”
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