Speaking to reporters at the White House Wednesday afternoon, President Donald Trump was asked why he decided to issue a 90-day pause of reciprocal tariffs on cooperating countries one week after declaring "Liberation Day" from the Rose Garden.
"Can you walk us through your thinking?" a reporter asked.
"Well, I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting yippie, you know, they were getting a little bit yippie, a little bit afraid, unlike these champions, because we have a big job to do," Trump said. "No other president would have done what I did. No other president, I know the presidents, they wouldn't have done it. And it had to be done. What was happening to us on trade, not only with you know, if you look at it, not only with China, but China was by far the biggest abuser in history and others, also. But somebody had to do it. They had to stop because it was not sustainable."
🚨NEW: Trump speaks out after issuing 90-day pause on tariffs.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 9, 2025
"No other president would've done what I did...it had to be done...
...Nothing's over yet. We have a tremendous amount of spirit from other countries, including China. China wants to make a deal...
...They all… pic.twitter.com/aturjfdtxy
While Trump issued a pause for most countries, Trump increased tariffs on China to 125 percent but insists a deal will eventually be made.
"We have a tremendous amount of spirit from other countries, including China. China wants to make a deal. They just don't know how quite to go about it. You know, it's one of those things," he continued. "Quite proud people. And President Xi is a proud man. I know him very well. They don't know quite how to go about it, but they'll figure it out. They're in the process of figuring it out. But they want to make a deal."
"I did a 90 day pause for the people that didn't retaliate, because I told them, If you retaliate, we're going to double it. And that's what I did with China, because they did retaliate," Trump said.
🚨MORE FROM TRUMP ON TARIFFS:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 9, 2025
"A deal could be made with every one of them. A deal’s gonna be made with China…and they’ll be fair deals. I just want fair…
...They weren’t fair to the United States. They were sucking us dry. You can’t do that…People took advantage of our… pic.twitter.com/O09qmz5xuy
The Dow Jones Industrial average closed above 2800 points Wednesday on news of the pause.
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