In a newly published interview with Time magazine, President Donald Trump revealed that he has already secured “200 deals” related to tariffs and predicted that all of the arrangements will be finalized within the coming month.
The interview, part of a feature marking his first 100 days in office, followed a question referencing trade adviser Peter Navarro’s earlier assertion that “90 deals in 90 days” would be achieved. The interviewer challenged that claim, pointing out, “We’re now 13 days into the point from when you lifted the reciprocal, the discounted reciprocal tariffs. There’s zero deals so far. Why is that?”
Trump responded firmly, “No, there’s many deals.” Pressed on when those agreements would be formally disclosed, he emphasized that discussions were underway with various companies and allied nations, saying, “We’re meeting with China,” and adding, “We’re doing fine with everybody. But, ultimately, I’ve made all the deals.”
When asked to clarify the timeline for announcing these agreements, Trump offered an extended metaphor to describe his approach to trade: “Because the deal is a deal that I choose,” he said. “View it differently: We are a department store, and we set the price. I meet with the companies, and then I set a fair price — what I consider to be a fair price — and they can pay it, or they don’t have to pay it. They don’t have to do business with the United States, but I set a tariff on countries. Some have been horrible to us. Some have been OK. Nobody’s been great.”
Trump explained that these tariffs would be determined using objective measures. “Fairly according to the statistics,” he said, elaborating that he considers various economic factors. “Do they have the VAT [value-added tax] system in play? Do they charge us tariffs? How much are they charging us? How much have they been charging us? Many, many different factors.”
He also brought up broader concerns beyond just trade policy, including military expenditures that the United States shoulders abroad. “As an example, we have Korea. We pay billions of dollars for the military. Japan, billions for those and others,” Trump said. “But that, I’m going to keep us a separate item, the paying of the military. [In] Germany, we have 50,000 soldiers.”
Pressed again for a timeframe on when the deals would be made public, Trump offered a definitive forecast. “Over the next three to four weeks, and we’re finished, by the way … we’ll be finished,” he said, noting that “some countries” might come back seeking “an adjustment,” which he’d be open to reviewing.
He also claimed the impact of the tariffs has been transformative for domestic investment. “We have $7 trillion of new plants, factories, and other things, investment coming into the United States,” Trump said. “If you look back at past presidents, nobody was anywhere near that. And this is in three months.”
Regarding China, Trump said he does not plan to initiate further calls with President Xi Jinping, although he noted that the Chinese leader has already contacted him. “He’s called,” said Trump. “I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf.”
When asked what Xi said during their exchange, Trump responded with another store analogy. “We all want to make deals. But I am this giant store. It’s a giant, beautiful store, and everybody wants to go shopping there. And on behalf of the American people, I own the store, and I set prices, and I’ll say, if you want to shop here, this is what you have to pay.”
And when challenged on whether confusion exists around the administration’s tariff policy, Trump flatly denied it. “The only thing — they have an option,” he said. “They don’t have to shop here. They can go someplace else, but there aren’t too many places they can go.”
{Matzav.com}