Trump insists China called, and trade deals are weeks away: Time interview
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
President Trump in the Oval Office. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
A defiant President Trump insisted in a new interview that the U.S. is less than a month away from potentially hundreds of trade deals, and that even Chinese President Xi Jinping has called him to talk business.
Why it matters: China denies it, other countries aren't saying it either, Trump won't say who the deals are with or share details, and the global economy is cracking as the saga plays out.
Driving the news: Time magazine released a sweeping interview with Trump Friday to review the first 100 days of his second presidency.
- Time's reporters asked Trump if he'd call Xi to talk trade ("Nope.") and if Xi had called him ("Yep.")
- "He's called. And I don't think that's a sign of weakness on his behalf," Trump said.
The other side: Chinese officials in recent days have steadfastly denied that any talks were happening, and insisted that the U.S. needed to make the first move by dropping its tariffs.
- The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond Friday to Axios' request for comment on Trump's claim.
State of play: Just over two weeks into Trump's 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, U.S. officials have been in active negotiations with the likes of Japan and South Korea on trade deals — but nothing's been announced yet.
- Asked why, Trump said "I would say, over the next three to four weeks, and we're finished, by the way."
- "I'll be finished," Trump added — though he also said some countries could come back and negotiate adjustments after he was done.
Yes, but: Trump also suggested something of a new view on trade talks, claiming he'd already made "200 deals" by unilaterally imposing tariffs.
- "[T]he deal is a deal that I choose. View it differently: We are a department store, and we set the price," he said. "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."
Zoom out: After a series of polls found Americans are less confident than ever in Trump's handling of the economy, he took credit for what he said was an economic rebound in his first weeks in office.
- On growth, Trump cast doubts on the Atlanta Fed forecast that the U.S. economy contracted during the first quarter. "Well, they may have said that, but so far, they've been, I mean, I've been right." (Preliminary first-quarter GDP numbers will be out next Wednesday.)
- On trade, Trump asserted that the trade deficit represented the U.S. "losing" trillions of dollars to other countries, a view widely rejected by economists who insist trade deficits are not, in and of themselves, bad.
- On consumer prices, Trump insisted there was no inflation and that he'd brought down the prices of groceries, including eggs. (While egg prices are down sharply over the last month, overall grocery prices are essentially flat over the course of his presidency, per a Datasembly index derived from thousands of stores.)
- On overall prices, Trump rejected widespread expectations of rising tariff-driven inflation, including a recent IMF forecast. "[Y]ou can't say what they think, because so far what I thought is right."
Go deeper: Trump-honored economist says tariffs causing scariest period in his lifetime
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details from the Time interview.
