Donald trump clashed with his interviewer during a series of tense exchanges about his plan for high tariffs and other policies on the Economic Club of Chicago.
Trump, who sometimes answers questions for what he calls the “fake news” media but often sits with friendly interviewers, was asked repeatedly on Tuesday about his plan to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on imported goods.
“To me, the most beautiful word in the English language is tariff,” Trump said. “And it’s my favorite word. A PR firm is needed,” he said – foreshadowing the disputes that would follow.
“I know you’re an anti-tariffist,” Trump told his questioner, John Micklethwait, the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News.
“You could throw America into the biggest trade war,” Micklethwait told him. “You’re essentially going to cut off trade with China… That will have a serious effect on the economy as a whole… The overall effect could be enormous.”
Trump responded, “I agree. It will have a huge effect, a positive effect.’
Former President Donald Trump went back and forth with interviewer John Micklethwait over his proposed tariffs
The exchange left Trump ready to attack his interlocutor, a former British editor of The Economist, who tried to confront him with the predicted effects of his plans.
“It must be hard for you to talk about tariffs negatively for 25 years and then have someone explain to you that you’re completely wrong,” Trump told him.
He said you could make the rate “so high, so terrible, so unpleasant” that the companies would come and invest “immediately.”
Micklethwait countered that there are 40 million jobs in the U.S. “that depend on trade,” then tried to point out that U.S. consumers could bear the brunt of the tariffs through higher prices.
“Critics say your rates will eventually become a kind of national sales tax” on consumers, Micklethwait told him. “No,” Trump replied.
Micklethwait then asked him about the math. ‘Not like you thought. “I was always really good at math,” Trump told him.
In the wide-ranging discussion, there were moments when Trump shifted to talking about North Korea, South Korea and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But it was his interviewer, not the crowd, who was put off by the tangents.
Trump had an answer to these errant answers. “I call it the weave. You have the tissue. As long as you get to the red spot at the end,” he said. He then said the nation has never been so close to World War III and its efforts to eradicate ISIS.
After Trump started talking about how great the US military is, Micklethwait told him, “With great respect to you, I asked about rates.’
Trump threatens tariffs of up to 100 percent – or even ‘20,000 percent’, in a bid to force companies to build factories in the US
Micklethwait said the tariffs would amount to a consumption tax on American consumers
“You said Taiwan should pay for our protection. Yes, I asked because you just mentioned North Korea this morning. The Chinese military is, as we speak, literally rehearsing for a full-scale naval blockade of Taiwan. So my question is: If China invades Taiwan, would you send American troops to defend it?” Micklethwait asked.
“Well, the reason they’re doing it now is because they won’t do it afterwards. Okay? So they’re doing it now,” Trump said.
The editor also pressed Trump that Bob Woodward’s new book revealed that Trump had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin seven times since Trump left office.
He asked Trump if he had spoken to Putin since he was no longer president.
‘Well, I won’t comment on that, but I will tell you that if I did, it was smart,” Trump said.
Micklethwait also pressed Trump on his spending plans, hinting at an estimate from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget that it would amount to $7 trillion over 10 years. “You have enormous debts,” he told Trump. He pointed to an even larger estimate of $15 trillion from the Wall Street Journal.
‘They’ve been wrong about everything. You too, by the way,” Trump shot back.
“You were wrong.”
“You’re trying to turn this into a debate,” Micklethwait told him. “It’s not a debate: You’ve been wrong on this issue all your life.”
When Micklethwait tried to keep his answers on track, Trump reached for the tissue again. “You can’t go that fast… I’m just telling you the basics: it’s called the weave. It’s all these different things that are happening.”
Trump also received applause when he railed against a “corrupt press.”
The two men also clashed on January 6, when Micklethwait told him that “it was by far the worst, worst transfer of power in a long time.”
“This is what they like to do,” Trump said when asked whether he would accept a peaceful transfer of power.
‘I left the morning I was supposed to leave. I went to Florida and you had a very peaceful transfer,” Trump said.
“And some people went to the Capitol, and a lot of strange things happened there. “There’s a lot of strange things happening where people are being sent into the Capitol by police,” he added.