Photo: Getty Images
President Donald Trump said he has no plans to back away from his sweeping tariff plans in a post shared on his Truth Social account Monday (April 7) morning, claiming there would be "NO INFLATION" following an ensuing stock market downturn.
"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. 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. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
"The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO," he wrote in a followup post. "Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!"
Last Wednesday (April 2), Trump announced that the U.S. would impose trade barriers on American exports as part of sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs on other countries, which he dubbed "Liberation Day."
"For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far. ... Foreign leaders have stolen our jobs, foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories and foreign scavengers have torn apart our once beautiful American dream," Trump said via Yahoo! News.
"But it is not going to happen anymore," he continued. "Reciprocal — that means they do it to us, and we do it to them. Very simple. Can't get any simpler than that."
The United States stock market experienced a significant downturn as the tariffs and trade wars were initiated, seeing the largest decline since the 2020 stock market crash influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic during Trump's first of two non-consecutive presidential terms.
Trump's Truth Social comments came as two of his biggest supporters, billionaires Elon Musk and Bill Ackman, both appeared to publicly differ from the tariff decision in post shared on social media.