Trump Makes His Most Extreme Tariffs Threat Yet

Donald Trump made his most extreme proposal yet on tariffs while speaking on stage Tuesday at the Economic Club of Chicago: He would consider a 2,000 percent tariff on goods coming into the country.

“If I’m going to be president of this country I’m going to put a 100, 200, 2,000 percent tariff,” said Trump. “They’re not going to sell one car into the United States.”.

Trump has made promises to impose tariffs in the past, including a suggestion for tariffs higher than 200 percent on foreign-made vehicles. Though Trump may later claim that 2,000 percent was an obvious hyperbole, he really did say it on the stage.

During the rest of the interview with Bloomberg’s John Micklethwait, Trump outlined his horrible economic plan, claiming that companies will drop plans to build factories overseas when faced with his threat of high tariffs. “The higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States,” he explained.

Despite being fact checked by Micklethwait about the economic harm that his tariff proposal will create, Trump declared that “to me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff.”

Economists estimate that Trump’s “America First” economic agenda of mass deportation and extreme tariffs will harm Americans by increasing inflation and shocking industries that rely on immigrant labor. “We find that ironically, despite his ‘make the foreigners pay’ rhetoric, this package of policies does more damage to the US economy than to any other in the world,” a recent devastating report read.

Donald Trump’s sit-down interview Tuesday with the Economic Club of Chicago went completely off the rails as the Republican presidential nominee struggled to offer concrete answers to a business-minded crowd, and miraculously performed even worse as he was fact-checked live onstage.

The Bloomberg News–sponsored event was intended to cover massive ground. Bloomberg’s top editor, John Micklethwait, pressed Trump on issues ranging from immigration, proposed tariffs, the dissolution of some of America’s biggest corporations, foreign policy with regard to Taiwan, and ultimately to the country’s fate post–Election Day. But Trump, seemingly, wasn’t prepared with answers.

The former president elicited groans from the crowd while dodging questions about his proposed foreign tariff plan, which includes a 200 percent tariff (which Trump insinuated could even be as high as 2,000 percent) on foreign cars.

Micklethwait then pointed out how a financial analysis of Trump’s economic policies estimated that they would add $7.5 trillion to the federal deficit—“more than twice the total for Vice President [Kamala] Harris.” But Trump failed to offer rational details in his defense.

“We’re going to bring the companies back, we’re going to lower the taxes still further for companies that are going to make their product in the USA. We’re going to protect those companies with strong tariffs, because I’m a believer in tariffs, I’m not sure that you are, I don’t think you are,” Trump said.

“Not particularly,” Micklethwait responded.

“But I want to congratulate you on your career,” Trump threw back, sparking a surprised laugh from the crowd. “To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff.”

“Tariffs—do you think that will bring in the revenues?” Micklethwait pressed. “They say it’ll only bring in $200 billion. That’s barely the cost of two of your promises.”

“Yeah, but that’s for like, what company are you talking about?” Trump said, before patting himself on the back for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, which he referred to as the “China virus.”

Later in the interview, Micklethwait noted that Trump’s policies would effectively stop trade with China, particularly since tariffs already exist on trade with the foreign power—a reality that Trump couldn’t accept. He baselessly denied Micklethwait’s data points.

But Micklethwait was undeterred: “You’re flooding the thing with giveaways. I was actually quite kind to you, I used $7 trillion,” he said, referring to the cost of Trump’s policies. “The upper estimate is $15 trillion. The Wall Street Journal, which is hardly a Communist organization, they have criticized you on this as well.

“You are running up enormous debts.”

Trump couldn’t handle the flipped tables.

“What does The Wall Street Journal know?” he said, crossing his arms. “I’m meeting with them tomorrow. What does The Wall Street Journal know? They’ve been wrong about everything. So have you, by the way.”

“You’re trying to turn this into a debate, as if there—” Micklethwait continued, before Trump interjected to say that Micklethwait “has been wrong all your life on this stuff.”

While discussing U.S. labor, Trump claimed that autoworkers at U.S. plants for foreign car companies such as Mercedes-Benz simply assemble parts “out of a box” and that children could do their jobs.

When asked about Google and whether the massive search-engine company should be broken up via antitrust laws, Trump opted to completely switch the topic, instead discussing voter rolls in Virginia and the Justice Department, exasperatedly adding that he “hasn’t gotten over that.”

“The question was about Google, President Trump,” Micklethwait said.

Donald Trump was asked about his economic plans during an appearance at the Economic Club of Chicago on Tuesday—and he lashed out when he couldn’t come up with a good answer.

Trump was being interviewed by John Micklethwait, Bloomberg News’s editor-in-chief, who pointed out that the former president’s economic promises, if enacted, would add $7.5 trillion to the national debt, or 150 percent of GDP, twice the total that Kamala Harris’s economic plans would add. Micklethwait then asked the former president why the audience should trust him.

Trump replied by discussing his plans to bring manufacturing companies back to America, and how he would protect those companies with tariffs. Micklethwait pointed out that those tariffs would only bring back $200 billion, recouping the costs from just two of Trump’s promises.

“But, that’s like, for what company you’re talking about,” Trump answered unintelligibly, before going off on a tangent about the Covid-19 pandemic.

Micklethwait continued to challenge Trump throughout the combative interview, citing the Wall Street Journal to note that costs of Trump’s economic promises were stratospheric.

“I was actually quite kind to you, I used $7 trillion, the upper estimate is $15 trillion. People like the Wall Street Journal, which is hardly a Communist organization, they have criticized you on this as well. You are running up enormous debt,” Micklethwait said, before Trump cut him off, clearly frustrated.

“What does the Wall Street Journal know? I’m meeting with them tomorrow, what does the Wall Street Journal know? They’ve been wrong about everything, so have you, by the way. You’ve been wrong about everything,” Trump replied, as the crowd, which seemed to support him, laughed.

“You’re trying to turn this into a debate, there are business people here,” Micklethwait said as Trump repeatedly tried to cut him off.

“You’ve been wrong all your life on this stuff,” Trump said, to more laughter from the audience.

Trump was clearly caught off guard at the event, not expecting an interview in which his grandiose promises would actually be examined since he has the Republican Party’s usual support from the business community. Most of his interviews during the presidential campaign, even for the media outlets that criticize him, haven’t directly confronted him on the specifics of his policies, particularly his economic plans.

Harris has been courting business leaders, hoping to peel them away from supporting Trump and the GOP. Trump’s answers during this interview may go a long way in helping her cause.

In a disaster of an interview on Tuesday, Donald Trump was happy to brag about his friendship with Vladmir Putin, admitting he continued the relationship with the Russian leader even after leaving the Oval Office.

Trump dodged and weaved throughout his interview at the Economic Club of Chicago. But interviewer John Micklethwait, Bloomberg’s editor in chief, attempted to get a direct answer from Trump about his relationship with the Russian president.

“Can you say, yes or no, whether you have talked to Vladimir Putin since you stopped being president?” asked Micklethwait.

“Well, I don’t comment on that, but I will tell you that, if I did, it’s a smart thing,” Trump responded. “If I’m friendly with people, if I have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”

“That sounds very much like you did talk to him,” Micklethwait replied.

His answer seems to be a confirmation of revelations last week that Trump has talked to the Russian autocrat at least seven times since leaving the White House. Trump’s team lashed out over that report, made in Bob Woodward’s book War, calling it a “made-up” story by “a truly demented and deranged man.”

However, in his speeches and interviews, including Monday night in Pennsylvania, Trump was happy to gloat, saying, “I get along very well with Putin.”

During a late-night posting binge after midnight Tuesday, Donald Trump bragged about his health and medical exams while attacking Kamala Harris.

Trump claimed that Harris “is dying to see my Cholesterol (which is 180!)” and claimed that he has already released his medical records, “including quite recently, and they were flawless.” In reality, Trump hasn’t released his medical records, even though he said in August that he would. 

Harris released a two-page report about her health on Saturday, which concluded that she “possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties” of the presidency, including those of commander-in-chief. The report noted that Harris did have seasonal allergies as well as urticaria, a common skin condition. Trump seized on this.

“These are deeply serious conditions that clearly impact her functioning. Maybe that is why she can’t answer even the simplest of questions asked by 60 Minutes, and others. What is this all about? I don’t have these problems,” Trump posted.

The former president is likely mad that Harris called him out at a rally on Sunday for his refusal to release any records or information about his health, asking whether the Trump campaign is “afraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable to lead America.”

In his posts, he again complained about Harris’s 60 Minutes interview, which took place more than a week ago and for some reason still occupies his mind. Is his cognitive condition getting worse thanks to the pressures of the presidential race? He had a very bizarre “town hall” earlier Monday evening, in which his fans had to watch him listening to music for nearly 40 minutes.

On Tuesday, he also canceled a scheduled interview with CNBC, one week after he canceled his own 60 Minutes interview, a longtime precedent for presidential candidates. All of this seems to bolster Harris’s argument that Trump has something to hide.