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While speaking with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump told the EIC he’s been wrong about tariffs “all your life.”
Micklethwait pressed Trump at The Economic Club of Chicago about how we would enforce tariffs without blowback from American companies.
“The overall effect could be massive,” the editor said, adding that Trump is set to launch the US into a “trade war.”
“It’s going to have a massive effect — positive effect. It’s going to be a positive effect,” Trump replied.
“It must be hard for you to spend 25 years talking about tariffs as being negative and then have somebody explain to you that you’re totally wrong,” Trump continued.
“Critics say your tariffs will end up being like a national sales tax,” Micklethwait said. “America, at the moment, has $3 trillion worth of imports. You’re going to add tariffs to every single one of them. That is going to push up the cost for all those people who want to buy foreign goods. Isn’t that simple mathematics, President Trump?” the interviewer asked.
“Yeah, it is, but not the way you’ve figured. I was always very good at mathematics,” Trump responded.
Trump claimed that tariffs on foreign businesses would make them set up shop in the US instead.
“You know, there’s another theory,” Trump said. “The tariff you make it so high, so horrible, so obnoxious, that they’ll come right away.”
“The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States and build a factory in the United States so it doesn’t have to pay the tariff.”
Micklethwait said other publications have also criticized Trump for “running up an enormous debt” with his policies.
“They’ve been wrong about everything. So have you, by the way, you’ve been wrong,” Trump said to Micklethwait, adding “You’ve been wrong all your life on this stuff.”
Trump’s running mat JD Vance shared the exchange on X, saying “This entire interview is incredible. President Trump walking into the lion’s den and reminding the people who’ve screwed up the country that they’re not as smart as they think.”
Watch below:
This entire interview is incredible. President Trump walking into the lion’s den and reminding the people who’ve screwed up the country that they’re not as smart as they think. https://t.co/PFt8b4KlIO
— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 15, 2024
More over at The New York Post:
Trump gets into heated match with journalist over tariffs: ‘You’ve been wrong all your life’ https://t.co/t1HCjVVZ9y pic.twitter.com/uauvzh58ug
— New York Post (@nypost) October 15, 2024