‘Trump chickened out’: Chinese social media mocks Trump on trade
Trump chickened out. At least that is what the Chinese are say I mean that post with the viral hashtag Trump. Check it out now as 150 million views in China and counting after Trump all but caved to XI We are going to have a fair deal with China and it's going to be Are you talking to them actively Actively? Everything's active. Mr. president, has there been any direct contact between the US and China trade a Yeah. Of course.
And every day. Every day and active I mean, you the implication here would sound if there's a big deal, it's being worked on. Things are happening. We're moving forward.
Well, the problem is that he was under in that sentiment and rhetoric by his own treasury secretary, who told reporters this morning that, quote, both sides are waiting to speak to the other, waiting to speak to the other. I mean, that's all waiting by the phone thing that's been going on for weeks n Of course, talking takes two sec In a situation like this, if something real starts, it literally takes two seconds. In fact, the Chinese finance minister is in Washingto as I speak yet. we'll sell him to you.
He is. They're not meeting with the Tru right now. But why did Trump put 145% tariffs on China only to back do Why would that happen? I mean, because according to the Wall St Journal tonight, Trump is considering major concessions potentially slashing some tariff on Chinese imports by more than And that's pretty incredible to cut by more than half when you haven't even started ne means you are negotiating against yourself. And that comes as Trump sounds like a completely differe when it comes to Beijing. I mean, just listen to him over the past 24 hours.
We're doing fine with China. I'm not going to say, oh, I'm going to play hardball with Chin We're going to be very nice. We're going to be very good to C I mean, that rhetoric, good to C nice to China is radically diffe than what we have heard from Tru I mean, radically different. And words matter here.
Words have started this whole th Listen to what he said since the beginning of the trade Like for years, we've been rippe and taken advantage of by China. What other presidents allow China to get away with is absolutely criminal. China obviously treats us very b China's an abuser. China is ripping off the United States for $1 trillio and that almost pales to what wa I mean, dozens of posts, like the ones we'll show you her China's brutal to American farme China treats us the worst. China panicked. I mean, you know, you can you can read the missives.
at this point, though, the side that seems to b panicking is the Trump side here which, you know, if these tariffs are being slash like this, that is backing off. And the only reason that you're off, is it so odd is that the entire fight was picked by him to begin with. I mean, this wouldn't be even a if he hadn't started it. And China has so far not had to give up anything yet. So Beijing seems to be sort of i and not able to believe its luck I mean, some of the things that are being said on Chinese social media, he's like a child who changes his stances instantl Today's Trump beat yesterday's T What will tomorrow's Trump do? But Trump's repeat retreat is stunning because it does go against every he has said. Pretty much everyth
We've been ripped off for years, so we're not going to be ripped off anymore. No, I'm not going to bend at all Aluminum or steel or cars. No exceptions, no nothing.
We don't necessarily want to make a deal with them. Would you be open to a pause in to allow for negotiation? Well, we're not looking at that. I'm not going to make a deal.
No deal, no bending, no nothing. But then they're they're cut in half tonight. I mean, if that all wasn't clear what you just heard there, there was this online the four w And this really sums it up. Sums up why we are where we are. No exemptions, no exceptions.
So when you look at what's happening tonight, maybe cutting it in half, that obviously is a complete and utter and total change of po It raises the question of whether Trump's words and his mean anything on the world stage And billionaire GOP Mega-Donor Ken Griffin tonight put it this the United States was more than just a nation. It's a brand. It's a universal b Whether it's our culture, our financial strength, our military strength, America goes beyond just being a It was it was like an aspiration for most of the world. And we're eroding that brand rig So why should other countries trust Trump? especially when they're out ther saying this. We've got 90 deals in 90 days, possibly pending here.
90 deals in 90 days. There hasn't been one yet. the man behind the art of the de though himself right now has no There's no deals yet in that col In fact, the only thing Trump may have to show right now are general agreements of unders They talk about which, of course, are agreements to tal and eventually maybe come to an agreement. And yet, loyalists like Stephen write this quote, you've been wa the greatest economic master str from an American president in hi Jeff Zeleny is OutFront live outside the white House to begin our coverage. So so, Jeff, what more can you tell us about what's going on here? Righ No exemptions, no exceptions.
And now maybe slashing tariffs i And what are you learning? Well, Erin, essential question has always been what is the political pain point for the president in this trade And it appears that we are seein I mean, you can just listen, over the last 72 hours or so, the, stance on C has softened remarkably, really on other economic metrics On Jerome Powell, of course, no calling for the firing of him. So when you put this all togethe there is a through line here, the white House, the president, the Trump administration, as he approaches his 100th day in office next wee The markets have been one of the few sort of checks on his policies. And this is something, as we often talk about something he watches him very carefully. And China has not blinked.
they have mocked the president in some respects, as you showed So clearly, what is happening now is the US is trying to get China to the negotiating table. That is very much an open questi There is no evidence that there have been direct conversations. The president, again, just a short time ago in the Ova Office, has said there are direct talks every day There is no evidence of that.
If there actually are these talk on, China is not saying. So the US is. That's sort of unusual here. But look, the bottom line to all this is the president has been presented with some information that he believes the economy, the markets are, struggling because of his polici that meeting in the Oval Office. So the we reported earlier, those CEOs of Walmart, of target of Lowe's, of Home Depot, really raising the alarm of a supply sh Empty shelves by summer, prices That got the president's attenti So it certainly is softening his The question is will trying to pick up the phone or are they going to wait for the president to blink even Aaron.
All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much you know, everyone's here with me and Dan, that's the thing. If you come from 145 and you cut it in half without even having to have a conversation, it's not necessarily a great negotiat point to be starting from.
but Trump chickens out 150 milli I mean, the reality is, is that the situation, as you hear from small business you see the ships piling up, you know, across Asia, you see these corporations as as Trump is hearing from this is an avalanche that's now going downstream. And I think you're essentially playing poker but to some extent with yourself because as you continue to sort of back up here, is that even though markets are up into positive there, what's the next step? What's the rules of the game? And that continues to be the frustrating thing, I think for everyone involved, from the market to corporations. I mean Trump is the Chinese sayi what's Trump going to do versus Trump tomorro Right. It's it's really negotiating wit relative to what Dan said.
I think that the market, the market has caved in from February 19th, we were trading at record highs to the lows where they are Yes, we're a little bit off thos but it was all about messaging. It was we still don't know anything more than we did then. We don't have written in stone what the numbers are, who's gett who's going to be, who's going to suffer, who's going to benefit, who is paying for any of these t We don't we don't have. It's still all unknowns. So the market went all the way down to here on unkn And now they're bouncing back on short term emotional bounces because people are just trying to find hope.
It's like Jim Cramer saying what is it going to take for peo to start buying stocks again. But you know, look what you know the things that I don't know to know that if what you're saying is a that the boats are backed up and that there is going to be this complete breakdown of suppl chain, the logistics in ships an and all that is going to shut do everything that's going to affec everybody in the stores, that when that finally hits the that's a reality. That and that's what you were sa And it's not going to handle qui It's three weeks. Time's ticking.
You you talked about it in terms of yes, you're right. In terms of the CEOs, the reality of the situation. It's hitting. Yeah.
And I think there's a combinatio of a couple of things. The one is the failure to communicate effectively. No one is speaking from the same hymn sheet. Right. And when you're running a busine running a white House, right. The role of the chief of staff is one of the most important rol in the world, because that is the person who coordinates the message, the planning, the strategies, the deals, etc.
right now, the communication and out of the white House and all the other branches right now is not in sync. Now some of that is it's your first 100 days. These new lieutenants were not in the last administrat They are in this administration. And we know that the president likes to have the last say. The difference right now is the communication effort.
The coordination of speaking from the same hymn s is coming from everyone else out in the business world, coming from corporate America, from those billionaire donors, from those founders, they're all going in a sworn one song, a chorus, and going to the white House and this has to stop President Trump taking some questions there in the Oval Office. Joining us now, Republican from New York, Congressman Mike Lawlor, who's also on the House Foreign Committee. Let's start with what's been going on with tariff if we can. Congressman, the president signaling something of a U-turn on the astronomical tariffs proposed on China today. This comes after he met Monday with retail CEOs who warned of higher prices and empty shelves. President Trump, generally speaking, seems more prone to digging in than backing down.
What do you think happened here Well, look, as I've said from the very beginning, I think the tariffs are meant to a short term negotiating tool, to negotiate with, countries lik like Korea, like India, like the Canada, Mexico and, yes, China. to get better and fairer trade d for the United States to bring down barriers to entry goods in those countries, as wel as to eliminate things like price controls. you know, that Europe has on US prescription drugs, which, by th means that we are paying higher drug costs to subsidize E so I think the objective, was al in large measure to force renego and get, better trade deals. obviously, and I've met with many folks and including, you know, economists from Deutsc Bank, for instance, earlier this as well as retail giants like Walmart last week.
of course, there is concern about, some of the short term, you know, challenges as a result this back and forth. but I think the long term object especially if the president is able to get agreements, and we saw yesterday, the vice p speak, out, with respect to Indi if we're able to get these agree turned around quickly within the next 30 days or so, and you get the tax reconciliati bill done. as I've said for from the beginn the economy is going to take off and that will be, extremely good for every America And let's bring in Vanessa, your cavett's now, and Vanessa, the market closed up today, but did dip from its high midday How are investors feeling? Well, listen, any day that the market closes up in the green is a good day on Wall But investors have told me over couple of days that they've really been trackin two storylines. One, what is happening with the and what is the fate of Jerome P the head of the Federal Reserve? And they've received encouraging news on both fronts, both from the Treasury Secretary and from the president. Just yesterday, the president sa that he was not going to termina Jerome Powell, the head of the Federal Reserve. Investors were very, very worrie about the Fed's independence and sort of the independence of the head of the Federal Reserve himself.
And then today, we heard from the president that he is essentially looking to de-escalate this trade war with China. That was also welcome news on Wall Street. But as you mentioned, the, Wall Street and the Dow closed down 400 points off the session high for the day. Maybe investors were enjoying their profits a li And investors told me that just as much as they heard encouraging news from the president and his cabin that could change very quickly. But just look at CNN's Fear and Greed Index. We are in fear territory right now, and I bring that up only because, Jake, for the past several weeks, we've been in extreme fear.
We haven't been in the fear spac since March 27th, but that does not erase the $6.5 in losses that the stock market has seen since February, and the $2.5 trillion in losses that we've seen since the beginning of April, when President Trump really ratcheted up this trade w And I want to read you something from Greg McBride. He's a chief financial analyst a Right. This is how he kind of summed up how the markets and investors are feeling right now. He told me that a softer tone about the Federal Reserve is welcome news to investors, and the market has responded to Turning down the heat in the tra with China is nice to hear, but it will ultimately need to be followed up by action Where the rubber meets the road is in the details of an eventual trade agreement.
Until then, uncertainty will continue to hang over the economy and financial markets. So, Jake, there you go. This is really a sign that today was a good, positive day on Wall Street. But that could change at any mom We know the president and his ca have come out and been encouraging in one mome and then change their mind in another moment. And Wall Street all day and really all week and months has been reacting to that volati Jake. All right Vanessa okay. But thank you so much.
Let's bring in Gene Sperling. He served as the white House American Rescue coordinator under the Biden administration and as the director of the National Economic Council under President Clinton and Obama. Good to see you, Gene. Thanks for being here. So we rarely we rarely see President Trump back down, per s but today, we definitely saw him soften his tone and his words when it comes to a trade war wit And we've seen him going back an and back and forth on this trade the whole time. Why?
What do you think led to his rec change? Well, I think they're living with the stock market being down. As just said, it's still down 1,112% even with an uptick day. I think that what you've seen happen is for those of us who follow the economics, we know that the projector and the projection has gone down I mean, it's stunning. consumer expectations, have gone from 2.6% of inflation to 6.7. we know consumer confidence is now lower than any time, sinc lower than nine over 11, lower than the financial crisis.
We know all those things. But I think what he heard today the real pain is actually going It's not just that. JP Morgan said there was a 20% chance of recession, and there's going to be 60%, but people are going to start sa wow, this product, we buy the pr this factory is being paused. These shelves are being, are emp The reality of people not visiting the United States, for tourism over the summer is going to affect real life jobs. And I think he probably heard th very real.
And I think it's encouraging. Any time the Trump administratio starts showing that they're focused on the econ and what the real impact. But I want to say that if you look at the commentary, if you look at the discussions we've had, where we've seen thin that usually only happen to developing countries with sha inflation records like people fleeing equities and bonds and the dollar at the same time, those are about fundamental conf in the competence and seriousness of our economic policymaking.
So I think the market can go up It looks like he's listening to the Secretary of Tr if somebody makes a positive com But in the end, the question is, are you going to see serious pol from President Trump? Or is the United States now going to be like on this constant rollercoaster? And just look at how the news that's being reported right now. Everybody is saying the presiden of the United States backed down He got played what he hates, what he hates. Now, if I were him, I'd say if I were advisor, I'd say, Mr. President, don't worry about it. Person in the pudding. Right. But I don't know.
Can this president hate it? Can he not always respond in a w And the more he does that, the more the U.S. brand, the more the thing that we started with Alexander Hamilton, our belief in the rule of law and our word that is hurt. And I don't think you get out of volatility until you have a fundamental cha in economic seriousness.
Do you think that the meeting with the CEOs on Monday, the CEOs of Lowe's and Walmart and the rest, and where they basically said our prices are going to go up and our shelves are going to be Do you think that had an impact I think it had to. I mean, I think what's what's thrown markets off a lot is that he doesn't seem to have been operating on the normal economic or political constraints. We all thought that the presiden wouldn't handle people going dow 11%, market going down 11%, just on his own policies. Yeah. We would think that as a person who's been good enough political to win an election twice, he would know the one thing you don't do is raise prices on American consume So I think one of the things tha competence is he doesn't seem to be acting rat either economically or political But I still believe everybody op by some constraints. And I think the reality of the major places people shop saying, yep, prices are going up, it's going to get real.
And that fury that helped you become president is now going to be turned on you I have to believe that had some My question is, is it going to be lasting? It's going to overcome his style of shooting off the cuff and just caring more about his personal persona than the economy. Yeah. This question, Gene Sperling, thank you so much for more on everything that we're seeing coming out of the white House. My fellow white House insiders a including CNN's chief national a correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, and Jeff Mason and Jeff Zeleny.
you had reporting this morning about how it was a combination of that warning from these retailers to to the president on Monday, but also pressure he's been getting from the markets, comments from his advisers on all of this. Is it a u turn? Did it turn back around? I mean, what are we looking at r I think it's a U-turn for now. But can also can always turn again as we've seen the on again, off trade policies. But something has seemed differe this week. And I think when the markets I think 11 minutes after the markets opened on Monday morning when the president sent out this once again calling Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, a major loser.
that really set was one of the things that set the markets just into a chaos th And at the same time, later that he had this meeting in the Oval And we knew about it. At the time, we didn't know exactly what was said in that meeting. But I am told that these four CE were invited in by the white House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, and to kind of give the president somewhat of an edu on what the real world impact of these, tariff policy f sort of is and the empty shelves really kin you know, is an image.
That's what you can see. And the president is so, attuned to visuals. We know that he is. And this is something that, of course, harkens back to the p But even before that, I mean, think of the 1970s gas lines or something like that So until the image and just the idea of that really sort of rattled him. But really ever since then they have, softened their tone on China aft So I think we've seen a shift th Well, at last, who knows? But it doesn't answer the big qu What does it do with China? he's softening his tone.
China has been silent. Yeah. And he was saying today that there is some high level ta or that there are direct talks between China. He says, ev But but there's a real question point of what this looks like an and actually where it's going anytime soon, which is the real question 100%. And I think that's a little bit why you didn't see the markets g even further today.
I started my career as a stock market reporter. I know, what do you mean? I know what those traders are talking about. I know I didn't know that at the time, but those traders are talking about these things and they don't know what to beli And so when the president says, one day we need to terminate Jay and the next day says, I never had that intention when the debt when the president says, one day I get along great with t and the next day we're doing 145 That kind of mixed message makes it really hard to plan.
It makes it hard to plan for bus It makes it hard to plan, for CE And it makes it hard to to make investment decisions for the people who are on those trading floors. What I think that is really the key point here, all of this is being driven truly by President Trump. I mean, the stock market will go up at t of something that the Treasury Secretary said behind closed doors that was reported and quickly dispersed to, to rep but really, you know, everything that we're seeing her is it's the Trump effect on the markets, and it's completely driven by what he is saying. It definitely is. And it's, a reason that, for three days in a row this week, he was not scheduled to make any public remarks until after the markets closed.
He did wander out onto the North today to look for, a place to plant a flagpole. And he talked for a second, but, he's being managed in a big way. But the Treasury secretary, you mentioned him. I mean, those remarks yesterday, were by design once again for Scott Bezzant to sort of calm the markets.
He's emerged as a leading figure and a role that that is what a central part of his job is. And the president is clearly is clearly listening to him, for Yeah. And for people who are curious about the flagpoles, we're going to get back to that in a moment later on in the show But we're also hearing from Senate Republicans, including James Lankford, who is essentially talking about the timing of all of this and how important that is to his constituents. But my advice is resolve it as quickly as we can stabilize the opportunity where people can actually do con because our worst case scenario is people pause for two three, four months to be able to figure out what's going to happen in the fu And we start having supply chain like we did during Covid, where there's 1 or 2 parts that people just can't get, and we start to be able to deal with all those dynamics. Is there any point where the white House feels maybe they are backed into a cor or that President Trump is, in t of what he said he's going to do And, you know, the realities of the effects of A couple of things, like when they do feel backed into a corner, President Trump does not react w I mean, he doesn't react with wi some people would consider a reasonable resp So if people are trying to back him into a corner, I think what we've seen from both the first term and now that that's that's probably not going to lead to th getting the result that they wan Number two, I think he knows and I think this white House kno right now that they own this eco And they also know that their political ramifications to So that's I think, one of the reasons why there's been a little bit of more hinting of flexibility. But the final thing I would say is reality check making 90 deals with 90 countries in 90 days is is a nearly impossible task.
And so if people think that that going to happen that quickly and that there's going to be a r to this quickly, yeah, it's hard reasonably to look at that and make that expectation. Yeah. A top line agreement is not a full fledged trade deal. Jeff Zeleny and Jeff Mason, grea to have both of our Jeff's here My next guest is an economist who served as the director of the National Economic Council the vice chair of the Federal Re That's timely. And also the undersecretary of the Treasury, director, Lael Brainard, it's great to have you here.
just on the China aspect of all and what we're seeing play out. You know, I was thinking about this today because under President Obama an you spoke about the need to stan to to China's trade practices. But it is unfair. And I've heard this from from some executives who say the president has a point on Chi and the US trade, but they their point is usually it's how it's done that is the problem that they're Absolutely.
So I think, that clearly, you do have to stand up for fair American businesses and workers expect you to. And China has, not being a fair the last administration raised tariffs on cars from China to 100%. And that was done after an inves that made very clear they were using unfair practices international markets with unfairly underpriced cars.
So there are times where you abs have to stand up and do that. What is different this time is that this white Hou has imposed very high tariffs on every count and then backed off in the face pressures and has ramped up tari against China to 145%. That's basically stopping trade with China. And again backed off when the markets really pushed b And so it's different than having targeted strategic t Yeah. The president himself today in the Oval Office acknowl that trade with China is basically stopped because the tariffs were so high that it just makes the prices to essentially, I wonder what you see, though, and how, China is responding to this. We saw the Foreign Ministry put out a statement today saying you know, when they're ready to be respect and up bullying to that effect.
I'm not quoting exactly. what stands out to you about the fact that we haven't y seen, you know, kind of that direct contact between President Trump and Pres that we know of. I should caveat well, I think they, first of all, did a lot of tit for tat kind of escalation. So they raised their tariffs and went after very specific industr in the U.S.
they went after Hollywood movies they went after Boeing. They're going after our agricultural exports. So they made clear that they hav some negotiating leverage here, And they have sat back and waite for this administration to come And that's what we saw in the last two days. Yeah. And, you know, speaking of all this, Jeff Mason made the great point about how much of this is hingin on the Federal Reserve and how that's also shaking the markets up, up and down, up and down. the president today was essentially trying to and to a degree that he hasn't considered or talked about firing the Federal Reserve chair, Jay Powell.
He did say that termination couldn't come fast enough. I should note you were interviewed to be the fed chair by President Biden, and you had been a close advisor previously of the current fed chair, Jay Powell. This is what Trump had to say about him today I haven't called him, but I believe he's making a mist by not lowering interest rates. And I think as well as we're doi would do much better. he's keeping rates to a, he historically has been late, except when it came to Biden, he was recommended by a certain that, I'm not particularly happy with, he will hopefully, do the right thing. The right thing is to lower interest rates.
So we'll see what happens. Do you think if President Trump called the Federal Reserve chair Powell, one, would he answer tha So look, I think what the markets were telling the white House was fed independ is an underpinning of why people like to invest in America. And when he started going after the fed chair, it led to a market reaction that got the white House to pull And it's really important that people believe that the fed has independence to keep inflation in check. It's more important than ever because we just had a period with high inflation, and consumers are very worried about the tariffs raising prices and reigniting in So right now having the separation of the Federal Reserve and the ability for them to make their judgments about what it takes to stop inflation from is important to the markets. And of course, it's important to our economy. Is does does the president have any point, though, when he warns that the fed may cut interest rates too late? So it's a very complicated judgm for the members of the Federal R it is.
On the one hand, tariffs do raise prices and the level of and the breadth of tariffs that the president has talked ab could lead to a big increase in On the other hand, they also stop businesses from investing and hiring. And so they may weaken the econo and the job market. And that puts the fed in a very difficult place.
Should it cut interest rates and risk seeing higher inflation
2025-05-01 22:41
