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Trump Threatens 50 Percent Tariffs on Brazil Over Bolsonaro Trial; Mike Pence Praises Several Recent Trump Decisions; Kim Jong Un Builds Luxury Beach Resort Trump Once Pitched. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 10, 2025 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:30:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right, President Trump is now threatening Brazil with a tariff ultimatum, a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods, blaming the country's trial of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro is facing trial for allegedly planning a coup to stay in power despite losing the 2022 election to current President Lula da Silva. Well, now President Lula is vowing trade retaliation if Trump follows through.

Robert Armstrong is joining us right now. He is a U.S. financial commentator for the Financial Times. Great to see you.

So what are your thoughts on a 50 percent tariff imposed on Brazil in connection with Trump's discontent, if you will, with the prosecution of the former Brazilian president?

ROBERT ARMSTRONG, U.S. FINANCIAL COMMENTATOR, FINANCIAL TIMES: This is absolutely different in kind from all of the tariffs or tariff threats that has gone before it. Before, if they were tariffs on a country, they were, in theory, there to close trade deficits between the United States and that country. But in this case, the United States has a big trade surplus with Brazil.

In 2023, we sold them something like $23 billion more in goods and services than they sold to us. So there is no deficit here to close. This is strictly a tariff justified by the president's objection to the internal politics of a foreign country, which is really unprecedented.

WHITFIELD: So it's being used as a weapon, so to speak. And the tariff, you know, would severely affect the Brazilian economy, wouldn't it? I mean, it's it's the second largest trading partner -- is the United States behind China.

In 2024, Brazil sold $40 billion worth of goods, primarily oil, coffee and steel to the United States. So how hard of a hit will this be?

ARMSTRONG: Yes, I think it is a hard hit. Now, all of those markets you just described are global markets. So there are other places to sell steel and coffee and oil.

But on the margin, this hurts Brazil. But I think you also have to think about how it hurts the United States. It's not like we're going to start producing a lot of coffee in the United States when we start tariffing it from places like Brazil.

We do grow a little coffee in Hawaii, but that can hardly make up for the tons of coffee we get from Brazil. So consumers, ultimately American consumers, are likely to pay part of the duty here.

WHITFIELD: Current Brazilian President Lula, you know, is vowing to reciprocate if indeed Trump follows through with this threat. And, you know, what is this overall doing to the administration's reputation and credibility in the global marketplace?

ARMSTRONG: Again, this is a new case for the administration. Every time the administration and the president makes one of these threats, they say, if you reciprocate, if you come back by tariffing us, we're going to come back at you twice as hard. And Brazil is one of the first countries that has, as it were, called that bluff and said, we will take action against you.

So now Brazil and the United States are in a situation where they might fall into kind of a tit for tat, where one country is going to have to lose some face and climb down. It's hard to say what the international community thinks about all this. It's much clearer what the market thinks.

The market thinks that Trump is going to be the one to back down.

WHITFIELD: I mean, you coined the phrase TACO trade in U.S. politics. TACO, the acronym for Trump, always chickens out as that August one date approaches for, you know, tariffs to kick in after some were supposed to happen this week. Do you see President Trump adhering this time to August 1?

ARMSTRONG: I expect it to depend on how much resistance the president faces either politically or economically from markets.

[15:35:00]

I think that the TACO thesis, as I conceive of it, is says that the Trump is not actually willing to pay high costs to defend these tariffs. So if we see big price increases, if we see strong retaliation, if we see that the tariffs are unpopular, whatever happens on August 1st on that particular day. What I do expect to see is Trump backing off every time he faces significant resistance, either from the voters or from the market.

WHITFIELD: And despite these this rate -- recent threat against Brazil, it's good to see that the markets for now are in the green. Robert Armstrong, thank you so much.

ARMSTRONG: Been a pleasure.

WHITFIELD: Ahead, how President Trump's former vice president Mike Pence describes the impact Trump is having on the future of the Republican Party.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Former Vice President Mike Pence praising his former boss, Donald Trump, for several recent decisions, including his move to resume military aid to Ukraine, his bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities and for getting his massive policy bill signed into law. Pence today telling CNN Trump's policy objectives are consistent with traditional Republican positions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT I think President Trump, as president should, has changed aspects of the agenda of the Republican Party. But I don't think he's changed the Republican Party. You know, I've been traveling around this country over the last four years, speaking with everyday Americans on everything from book tours to my own campaign for president.

And and what I've heard again and again is the the deep commitment that Republican voters have to strong a national defense, American leadership in the world, fiscal responsibility, pro-growth policies, the right to life and traditional values.

There is a populist move within the party that says we should marginalize the right to life, that we should embrace big government programs, that we should pull back from our commitments in the world. But I think that's a -- that's a minority voice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now, Olivia Troye. She served as vice president, Pence Homeland Security Counterterrorism Advisor. Olivia, always great to have you. Thank you so much for being here with us.

It is interesting to hear the former vice president just say that he believes that that populism within the Republican Party is the minority, that in his words, he doesn't think President Trump has changed the party all that much.

I covered the 2024 Republican primary. And I got to tell you, it was -- we all watched it unfold, but it was very much Donald Trump's party. And Mike Pence's presidential run was quite short lived. Do you think there is still room for Republicans like him who do have these more traditional Republican values?

Does that still align with where today's Republican Party is?

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY, COUNTERTERRORISM ADVISER TO VP MIKE PENCE: I think that I align with traditional Republican values, but I don't really see a home for me right now in the GOP. And I, you know, while I hear what the former vice president is saying, my experience was the same as yours. I traveled around the country during the 2024 campaign. I reached some center right Republicans, but they didn't feel like they really fit in with the MAGA movement. And I you know, I think right now the base still belongs to Donald Trump. I think that they are looking for that fervor, the more extreme policies that we've seen for the MAGA base. We're seeing it play out even on immigration policies.

So, you know, I think there's a split whether there'll be a reckoning with more voices like Mike Pence or more voices like Senator Thom Tillis, who is out there trying to set the record straight on the Big, Beautiful Bill, as it's called, and what it could possibly mean for his own constituents. I think that remains to be seen.

DEAN: Yes, it certainly does. And worth noting to Thom Tillis is now not running again. And only upon that feels really unencumbered, I think, to be talking about this, as frankly as he is.

Olivia, we know that Elon Musk has been floating this idea of a third party. A third party has been a really hard thing and really impossible to build here in America. It's such a two party system for so many reasons.

But do you think that a third party could be appealing to some of these Republicans like yourself who don't feel like they have a place really in either party anymore? And I think there are some Democrats that might feel that way as well.

TROYE: I certainly think there is room here for the independent movement because there are a lot of people right now who feel politically homeless. I think there is a whole center lane here of center right, conservative center left people on the Democratic side that are trying to figure out where they fit. But unfortunately, I just haven't seen the actual structure support that type of a third party movement.

And, you know, our party is just not -- we're not set up that way in this country. And so I think unless Elon Musk is going to spend the money on the infrastructure and do the actual work that it is going to take to build that infrastructure, to create a third party that is including these moderate voices that are looking for a home, I think that is a long shot. And I think what it will do is it may split the party vote on the Republican side, maybe, or maybe it'll pull for the Dems.

Traditionally, that's what we've been worried about in the past is like enabling more extreme movements to take advantage of these opportunities or pull votes. But again, that is just a system of our politics right now in our country.

DEAN: And also in the interview, Vice President Pence praised the Republicans recent legislation that President Trump's now signed into law. He believes that that legislation is a winning message for the future. Do you agree with that?

[15:45:00]

TROYE: I'm sorry, Jessica, it cut out a little bit. What was your question?

DEAN: That's OK. I was saying that Vice President Pence was praising the legislation that Republicans just passed, and he believes that this is -- this is the right message for the future, that it's a winning message for the future. What do you think in terms of as we look to the midterms, do you think that's something Republicans will be happy to run on and that will be successful for them?

TROYE: I think they are going to face some serious trouble. I think that these cuts, when it comes to people's benefits, when it comes to Medicaid, I think people like Senator Thom Tillis are absolutely correct. They're going to see their ramifications of what these means when it really hurts the American people in these communities that are going to be the most impacted.

And I think when you look at the cuts also, when you have disasters like what's going on in Texas right now and the cuts to FEMA and what's happening here, things in this bill that people don't really understand overall are really going to impact rural areas in a way that we have yet to see. And I think in ways that people don't really understand. And so I don't think that this is going to benefit Republicans in the future.

DEAN: All right, Olivia Troye, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

TROYE: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Yes.

Still ahead, North Korea is celebrating a lavish new seaside resort. It's big enough to fit 20,000 people. How a pitch that originally came from President Trump turned into something quite different.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, this just in after a brief pause on weapons going to Ukraine. President Zelenskyy says that President Trump will be sending -- or President Trump says all signals are point to the U.S. resuming its aid to Ukraine. Sorry about that.

Zelenskyy says he and Western allies even discussed the potential of buying Patriot missiles from either the U.S. or Europe.

DEAN: Yes, and he says he's had positive conversations with President Trump in recent days. Last week, according to sources, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth halted arms shipments to Ukraine without telling the White House.

Meantime, North Korea is hailing the opening of a brand new beachfront resort. But the idea wasn't necessarily homegrown. President Trump pitched it to Kim Jong Un years ago.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. The idea started as a way to lure Kim into signaling a nuclear deal and working with the U.S. That, of course, didn't happen. But the resort did without Trump and without any U.S. involvement. Will Ripley has more from Taipei.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kim Jong Un's yacht glides ashore on North Korea's eastern coast. The Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Zone, miles of white sand beaches, water sports, luxury villas, 1,500 hotel rooms. Wonsan was known as the ruling Kim family's favorite summer retreat and one of North Korea's most active military testing grounds.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But they have great beaches. You see that whenever they're exploding their cannons into the ocean. And I explained, I said, you know, instead of doing that, you could have the best hotels in the world right there.

RIPLEY (voice-over): President Donald Trump once pitched U.S. investment in Wonsan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where the doors of opportunity are ready to be open. Investment from around the world. One moment, one choice.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Today, seven years later, Kim beat Trump to the punch, building it on his own. The resort features grand hotels with luxurious amenities, even international grade summit halls. A soft power backdrop, perhaps setting the stage for diplomacy.

Kim did bring the Russian ambassador for the grand opening. These days, Pyongyang reportedly won't even accept Trump's letters at the United Nations. Kim's wife, Ri Sol-ju, made her first state media appearance in more than a year.

Often walking several steps behind her husband and their teenage daughter, believed to be Kim Ju-ae. She often appears alongside her father at official events, fueling speculation she's being groomed as a possible successor.

Kim personally inspected the Wonsan project at least six times, including once when I was there reporting for CNN.

RIPLEY: On the ground here in North Korea, now they're building a beachfront resort that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un came here to Wonsan to inspect just yesterday.

RIPLEY: How have things improved under Kim Jong-un?

RIPLEY (voice-over): Every day we see changes, he told me, like new construction.

The new resort includes a massive water park and a surf machine generating artificial waves. And this very real wipeout, even grannies firing pistols on horseback. This retiree says she was moved to tears thinking about how their leader has given them such amazing benefits, even as much of the country still struggles with food shortages, medical care and electricity.

Now North Korea celebrates a resort. Kim built it without Trump, without aid, without compromise. And with every single one of his nuclear weapons still intact. RIPLEY: They built it, but who will come? Aside from locals, only Russian tour groups can visit the beach resort. Certainly no Westerners, not even Chinese tourists, at least for now.

In fact, it may be quite some time before North Korea even comes close to being able to fill those dozens of brand new hotels designed to accommodate up to 20,000 people.

[15:55:00]

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right, Will, thank you. Quite a peak.

WHITFIELD: Are you going to go?

DEAN: They won't take us.

One year later, the viral sensation Moo Deng still cute, still drawing big crowds. Our her zoo is celebrating her first birthday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Well, we're going to come to an end with the child star --

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

DEAN: -- grown up, marking a big day. Moo Deng the pygmy hippo with a giant following, turns one. The viral sensation celebrated the milestone eating special treats engraved with birthday messages.

[16:00:00]

And fans flew in from around the world to see Moo Deng at the Khao Kheow Open Zoo that's just east of Bangkok in Thailand.

WHITFIELD: Hey, that's a big one. Officials there reported at least a 30 percent increase in visitors after posting videos of Moo Deng's life there last fall. Oh, look at the fan base there.

DEAN: Big.

WHITFIELD: A single clip garnered more than five million views. In fact, the little hippo's appeal even prompted Saturday Night Live to dedicate a skit to Moo Deng. I miss that one.

The name, by the way, means bouncy pig in Thai. Happy birthday, Moo Deng. That's so cute.

DEAN: "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now. We'll see you tomorrow.

END