Trump Stands By Tariffs: ‘A Beautiful Thing To Behold’

President Donald Trump said Sunday night that the tariffs he put in place on countries around the world were already having a positive impact and were a “beautiful thing to behold.”

In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote that the tariffs were bringing in billions of dollars from countries that have taken advantage of the United States through trade. He said his strategy was the only way to correct massive financial deficits with China and the European Union. 

“We have massive Financial Deficits with China, the European Union, and many others. The only way this problem can be cured is with TARIFFS, which are now bringing Tens of Billions of Dollars into the U.S.A. They are already in effect, and a beautiful thing to behold,” he posted. “The Surplus with these Countries has grown during the ‘Presidency’ of Sleepy Joe Biden. We are going to reverse it, and reverse it QUICKLY. Some day people will realize that Tariffs, for the United States of America, are a very beautiful thing!”

He reiterated his tariff strategy on Monday morning, criticizing China in another Truth Social post for retaliating with a 34% tariff on all goods imported from the United States. 

“Oil prices are down, interest rates are down (the slow moving Fed should cut rates!), food prices are down, there is NO INFLATION, and the long time abused USA is bringing in Billions of Dollars a week from the abusing countries on Tariffs that are already in place,” Trump wrote. 

“This is despite the fact that the biggest abuser of them all, China, whose markets are crashing, just raised its Tariffs by 34%, on top of its long term ridiculously high Tariffs (Plus!), not acknowledging my warning for abusing countries not to retaliate,” he added. “They’ve made enough, for decades, taking advantage of the Good OL’ USA! Our past ‘leaders’ are to blame for allowing this, and so much else, to happen to our Country.”

China’s tariffs on the United States are set to go into effect on April 10, and the country’s Ministry of Finance has accused the United States of violating international trade rules. The ministry demanded that Trump “immediately” cancel the tariffs imposed on Chinese exports. 

Markets worldwide have struggled after Trump’s tariff announcement last week on what he called “Liberation Day.” Both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 fell dramatically to close last week and were dropping on Monday morning before the opening bell. 

When asked Sunday night about the market struggles, Trump said he didn’t want the market to fall but suggested it is part of the process.

“But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he told reporters on Air Force One. “We have been treated so badly by other countries because we had stupid leadership that allowed this to happen. They took our businesses, they took our money, they took our jobs. They moved it to Mexico, they moved it to Canada, they moved a lot of it to China. And it’s not sustainable, we’re not going to do it.”