President Trump accused the media, and the Wall Street Journal in particular, of unfairly covering his escalating trade war.
“Why is it that the Wall Street Journal, though well meaning, never mentions the unfairness of the Tariffs routinely charged against the U.S. by other countries, or the many Billions of Dollars that the Tariffs we are now charging are, and will be, pouring into U.S. coffers?” the president tweeted from the comfort of Camp David on Saturday.
Why is it that the Wall Street Journal, though well meaning, never mentions the unfairness of the Tariffs routinely charged against the U.S. by other countries, or the many Billions of Dollars that the Tariffs we are now charging are, and will be, pouring into U.S. coffers?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 2, 2018
He continued to make the claim that “when you’re almost 800 Billion Dollars a year down on Trade, you can’t lose a Trade War!”
“The U.S. has been ripped off by other countries for years on Trade, time to get smart!” Trump concluded.
When you’re almost 800 Billion Dollars a year down on Trade, you can’t lose a Trade War! The U.S. has been ripped off by other countries for years on Trade, time to get smart!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 2, 2018
Earlier on Saturday, he demanded that the “United States, must, at long last, be treated fairly on Trade.”
“If we charge a country ZERO to sell their goods, and they charge us 25, 50 or even 100 percent to sell ours, it is UNFAIR and can no longer be tolerated,” he continued. “That is not Free or Fair Trade, it is Stupid Trade!”
The United States must, at long last, be treated fairly on Trade. If we charge a country ZERO to sell their goods, and they charge us 25, 50 or even 100 percent to sell ours, it is UNFAIR and can no longer be tolerated. That is not Free or Fair Trade, it is Stupid Trade!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 2, 2018
The White House announced Thursday that the administration would be retracting exemptions for certain U.S. allies, including Canada, Mexico, and multiple European Union members, in regard to his steel and aluminum tariffs.
Despite backlash and retaliatory economic measures from the aforementioned countries, Trump defended the decision on Friday.
“We lose over $100 billion a year with Mexico. We lose many, many, many billions of dollars with Canada,” he said outside of the West Wing. “And all of these countries, including the European Union, they charge five times the tariffs. We don’t charge tariffs, essentially.”
Congressmen from both parties have accused the move of having a greater negative impact on American consumers than U.S. trading partners.
“Tariffs on steel and aluminum imports are a tax hike on Americans and will have damaging consequences for consumers, manufacturers and workers,” Sen. Orrin Hatch said in a statement.
“When it comes to unfairly traded steel and aluminum, Mexico, Canada, and Europe are not the problem — China is,” Rep. Kevin Brady said of the tariffs, echoing Hatch. “This action puts American workers and families at risk, whose jobs depend on fairly traded products from these important trading partners.”
The president also retweeted Saturday a favorable report from Fox News, touting 223,000 new jobs that were added in May.
223,000 jobs added in May, even the NYT runs out of words to describe how good the numbers are! pic.twitter.com/K1GB8G0zsf
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) June 2, 2018
