Trump Admits He’s Willing to Let Americans Suffer for His Tariffs

Donald Trump once again acknowledged that his foolish trade wars will disrupt the economy, potentially causing a recession. But the president still spoke about the impending tariffs on Mexico and Canada as if they are paid by the exporting country rather than the American companies importing goods, who then pass the cost on to American customers.

During an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that aired Sunday, the host asked Trump, “Are you expecting a recession this year?”

“I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big,” Trump said.

But he admitted that an economic “disruption” is possible.

“There could be a little disruption. Look, what I have to do is build a strong country,” the president said when discussing the recent fall in the stock market. “You can’t really watch the stock market. If you look at China, they have a 100 year perspective. We go by quarters. And you can’t go by that.”

In his first term, Trump often used the stock market as proof of his success. “Highest stock market EVER,” Trump boasted on social media in July 2017. But now he seems to be saying that we’ll need to wait 100 years to see the benefits of his policies.

Trump also threatened to raise tariffs — currently set at 25 percent. Trump recently announced the implementation of tariffs would be delayed until April 2. But that did not stop the stock market sell off.

“We’re a big, big country, and they do a lot of their business with us, whereas in our case it’s much less significant,” Trump said of Canada. “We do very little with Canada by comparison, and I wanted to help the American carmakers until April 2.”

“The tariffs could go up as time goes by, and they may go up,” Trump said.

“We may go up with some tariffs. I don’t think we’ll go down, but we may go up,” he added.

“For years, globalists have been ripping off the United States. They’ve been taking money away from the United States, and all we’re doing is getting some of it back, and we’re going to treat our country fairly,” Trump said. “This country has been ripped off from every nation in the world, every company in the world. We’ve been ripped off at levels never seen before, and what we’re going to do is get it back.”

To “get it back,” Americans will bear the burden of increased prices, rising inflation, and an economic slump.