President Trump on Saturday urged Americans to “hang tough” and played golf as his baseline 10% universal tariffs went into effect.
President Trump says ‘every country’ wants to negotiate on tariffs
President Donald Trump said “every country” has called him to negotiate after his tariff announcement.
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump on Saturday urged Americans to “hang tough” and played a round of golf for the second consecutive day as his baseline 10% tariffs on imports from all U.S. trading partners went into effect.
After announcing the massive tariffs Wednesday, the U.S. stock market plummeted, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing 9.2%, the S&P 500 falling 10.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbling 11.4%.
“THIS IS AN ECONOMIC REVOLUTION, AND WE WILL WIN. HANG TOUGH, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic,” Trump said on Truth Social Saturday morning.
The Trump administration imposed a 10% minimum tariff on all imports coming into the country and even higher reciprocal tariffs on the U.S.’s biggest trading partners, including China and the European Union. The baseline tariff went into effect at 12:01 am EDT Saturday, and the reciprocal tariffs will begin April 9.
Trump has argued the higher tariffs ‒ which seek to roll back decades of globalization ‒ are critical to rejuvenate America’s declining domestic manufacturing sectors and create a level playing field with other countries that impose tariffs on U.S. exports.
They include a 34% tariff on chief rival China on top of recently imposed 20% tariffs on Chinese goods, meaning Chinese imports were effectively hit with a 54% tariff.
Escalating a global trade war, China responded to Trump’s tariffs Friday by imposing reciprocal 34% tariffs on all imports from the U.S.
“China has been hit much harder than the USA, not even close,” Trump said in his social media post Saturday. “They, and many other nations, have treated us unsustainably badly. We have been the dumb and helpless ‘whipping post,’ but not any longer. We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before.”
Trump made the Truth Social post shortly before playing in a senior championship at the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, north of his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump golfed Friday at the Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach, and on Thursday he visited Trump Doral for a dinner ahead of the LIV Golf Tournament.
After Saturday’s round concluded, the White House in a statement said: “The President won his second round matchup of the Senior Club Championship today in Jupiter, FL, and advances to the Championship Round tomorrow.”
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