Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Markets Brace For More Uncertainty Amid New Tariffs; White House Cabinet Officials Offer Mixed Messaging On Tariffs; Trump Remarks On Tariffs As Market Futures Point Sharply Down. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired April 06, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:00]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: We're just about 15 hours away now from Wall Street's opening bell. And right now the Dow futures are on pace for a steep decline, plunging more than 1500 points as President Trump's escalating trade war continues to send jitters throughout Wall Street. The markets are bracing for what could be another chaotic week after losing more than $6 trillion in two days.
The next round of President Trump's tariffs set to go into effect Wednesday. China will be one of the countries hit hardest with a massive 54 percent tax on all goods imported into the United States.
And I want to start there. We're going to go straight to CNN's Marc Stewart, who is in Beijing for more on this.
Marc, we're about two and a half hours away from the Asia markets opening. So set the scene for us.
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica, the apprehension that we are feeling from both main street and Wall Street, as you see in those future numbers, are certainly also being felt here in Asia. In fact, I was messaging with one analyst last night. He described the atmosphere as we approach the market open here in Asia as panic. I heard from one economist who used the phrase selloff. It's a fiscal term, meaning that people are going to want to hold on to their cash. They're going to be very defensive.
So as markets open in Asia in the next hour or so, we are expecting to see a lot of caution. When markets closed on Friday, we saw a lot of declines, most notable in Japan and South Korea. That is home to the Asian auto sector, that is home to these auto giants like Honda, like Toyota, like Hyundai. So that's something we're going to be watching in particular.
The other thing which I'm curious to see are the narratives that are going to emerge in the hours ahead, in the sense, are we going to hear world leaders from here in Asia, such as from Japan and Vietnam, which have been highly targeted during these tariffs? Are they going to say that they have phone calls lined up with the president and vice versa? That's going to be very interesting to watch.
Also, as far as China, one analyst pointed to me the fact that these tariffs are a declaration that China is going to be strong and it's going to be very serious. So while there is so much talk about negotiation, at least this may be one signal that China, in this broader tariff discussion is going to be very firm.
Jessica, the other thing I want to point out is that if you go to CNN.com, we have what's known as the fear and greed index. It looks at stock prices. It's a way for us to give an assessment about how people are feeling about the markets and Wall Street right now. Currently this index, the gauge is at extreme fear. One year ago it was neutral. So it is a reflection that the news in the world really can impact the numbers on Wall Street.
So to say that people are buckling up or bracing for a very wild day ahead here in Asia, Jessica, that is certainly not an understatement.
DEAN: Yes. And numbers on Wall Street can then affect numbers on main street as it goes.
I want to ask you, too, about China's retaliatory tariffs on the U.S., on U.S. goods. Could we see more when the new tariffs go into effect Wednesday?
STEWART: I mean, look, there is this possibility that we are going to see retaliation from both sides. If we look at this U.S.-China relationship, it's very much tit-for-tat. You hurt us, we're going to hurt you back. And as we saw during the first Trump administration, that is no exception. I think we may get some clarity in the hours ahead at around 3:00 local time here in Beijing, 3:00 in the morning where you are on the East Coast.
That's when China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds its daily press briefing. That is a chance for reporters to ask questions to a government official. Sometimes, majority of the times, the responses are usually pretty general, pretty vague. But with this heightened atmosphere, maybe we'll get a little bit more specific guidance as to what China is thinking. Again, that's going to happen in the hours ahead during the trading day here in Asia -- Jessica.
DEAN: OK, Marc Stewart, stay close. We're going to check back in with you shortly, as a lot of this is unfolding in real time.
As these financial markets in the U.S. and around the globe are bracing for more uncertainty tomorrow, the president has spent the last four days playing golf in Florida, even posting a video of him hitting a golf ball on social media earlier today.
In an attempt to calm nerves, the White House did dispatch a team of top economic advisers to defend the president's tariffs, but their mixed messages may have caused more questions than answers.
CNN's Betsy Klein is live in West Palm Beach, Florida.
And Betsy, as we heard a number of these officials talking earlier today, they were not singing from the same songbook, as it were.
[19:05:00] BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Yes, there's a real lack of clarity here from President Trump and his top economic lieutenants. Really a question of whether these tariffs are permanent or if there is space here, Jessica, for negotiation. Those officials framing the tariffs as a necessary economic reset and really downplaying a lot of this market volatility that we've seen.
President Trump, as you know, views himself as a dealmaker. He has used tariffs and specifically the threat of tariffs as a key negotiating tactic. But what we are witnessing now is just a fundamental restructuring of the global economic order. So we are seeing markets spiraling. As you mentioned, the Dow Futures already down more than 1500 points ahead of Monday. When the markets closed on Friday, the Dow posted its biggest back-to-back, day-to-day losses since March of 2020, when the pandemic was just getting underway.
Economists really ratcheting up the threat of a potential recession, and Goldman Sachs analysts are now concluding that the overall effect of President Trump's economic policies is not going to be enough to offset the damage that this tariff plan is causing. But President Trump's team really mixed messaging and a lot of questions as they were pressed on whether the president might be open to cutting a deal. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Are these tariffs here to stay as Howard Lutnick and President Trump seem to be suggesting?
BROOKE ROLLINS, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: Listen, we've got 50 countries that are burning the phone lines into the White House up.
MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: Is the president considering postponing implementation to negotiate?
HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: There is no postponing. They are definitely going to stay in place for days and weeks.
KRISTIN WELKER, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: Is President Trump willing to negotiate or are these tariffs permanent?
SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: Well, I think that's going to be a decision for President Trump.
PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE TRADE ADVISER: This is not a negotiation. This is a national emergency based on a trade deficit that's gotten out of control because of cheating. We're always listening -- we're always willing to listen. That's what Donald Trump does best.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KLEIN: Certainly more questions than answers there. But CNN has learned that the White House is in active negotiations with officials from India, Israel and Vietnam toward potentially cutting some sort of trade deal in potential exchange for easing of these tariffs. Now, to that end, we are learning that President Trump is set to meet
with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu face-to-face tomorrow at the White House -- Jessica.
DEAN: And we'll be watching that. Betsy Klein, thank you so much for that reporting.
And joining us now, former Treasury secretary Larry Summers.
Thank you so much for being here with us on a night where there are a lot of questions around all of this. I just want to ask you first about the stock market futures plunging as we're preparing for tomorrow. The Dow falling more than 1500 points on those futures. What are you anticipating?
LARRY SUMMERS, FORMER TREASURY SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT CLINTON: It won't be a surprise given the self-inflicted wound character of the policies that's going to increase unemployment. They're going to hurt businesses. They're going to increase inflation. They're going to make it harder for the Fed to cut rates. Markets are responding to what may be the most damaging economic policies the United States has enacted since the Second World War.
There are precedents for this. In 1987, you had a much smaller version of this at a moment when markets were high. You had a set of arguments going on between the U.S. and at that time, it was countries in Europe. The markets went down on Thursday and Friday. Everybody thought about it over the weekend. And then people came in on Monday and sold. And of course, that was the October 1987 crash.
I'm not saying that's going to happen this time, but certainly what's happening in futures markets suggests that there's real disappointment that the president is doubling down on his errors. That policies that everybody on the outside sees as misguided are simply being reinforced. And that's very damaging for our economy.
DEAN: President Trump's trade adviser, Peter Navarro, told investors to, quote, "sit tight, don't panic." We've heard trust in Trump. And then, as my colleague Betsy Klein was reporting, we've just heard a lot of mixed messaging. Are these tariffs for negotiation? Are they to bring back manufacturing? Are they staying? Are they going?
What do you think about the messaging coming out of the White House and the advice to everyday Americans to just trust in Trump on this?
SUMMERS: (INAUDIBLE) economic policies coming from administrations for 45 years, I've never seen as much incoherence and irrationality as we saw on television today.
[19:10:12]
Self-evidently, you can't both use tariffs as a crowbar, threatening other countries and saying you'll remove them if they cut their tariffs, and also promise that they'll be a revenue source and an inducement to businesses to locate in the United States. And the administration doesn't have a coherent message on why it's doing the largest tax increase that the country has had in 50 years. Usually when you do something hugely consequential, you have a clear rationale that's consistently delivered. And we're not getting that. Largest tax increase in 50 years. A tax increase on consumers, $4500 a car, according to Ted Cruz, 17 percent increase in clothing and apparel prices, according to the Yale Budget Lab, $3800 per consumer, according to the Yale Budget Lab. And they can't even agree on why they are doing it.
It's no wonder that markets have lost confidence in this administration, and this administration telling people that they should ignore the market judgment, I don't think is going to be very reassuring to people. What would be reassuring would be a sense that the signals that have been sent from politicians in both parties, from the Federal Reserve, from dozens of other countries, from almost every outside economist, from the major banks, from the CEOs of hundreds of businesses, from representatives of labor, that this is a mistake, that the administration would be signaling that it had heard the message.
Instead, what we've heard this weekend is a message of doubling down, and eventually they will, I suspect, be forced to change course. But the sooner they do it, the less costly it will be and the less long run damage will be done to the credibility of the United States.
DEAN: And I just heard you listing out all of those, those types of people and institutions that are waving their arms saying, please don't do this. Just to play devil's advocate, to try to help us understand, is there a way in which this works and which it can produce what they are promising?
SUMMERS: I think it's extraordinarily unlikely. I guess the best case would be if almost all other countries did some kinds of adjustments, and then they withdrew all the threatened tariffs. But Adviser Navarro has said for sure that's not going to happen. Adviser Lutnick has said he's sure that's not going to happen.
From the reporting, those are the two people who are consistently in the room with the president. The people who sent more reassuring messages are people who are only tangentially, unfortunately, involved in setting up these policies. And this is a president who's been saying we need tariffs for 40 years throughout his career. He went back to echoing Lee Iacocca, when Lee Iacocca was saying things like this 40 years ago.
So it's hard to believe that that's where it's going to go. But what would be best would be if there was some adjustment in other countries, and then these policies were withdrawn. And if there was a signal that we weren't going to go back to these kinds of tactics, because as long as there's the possibility that we'll go back to these kinds of tactics, there's going to be enormous uncertainty. And that uncertainty is going to discourage spending. That uncertainty is going to discourage new business investment. And all of that's going to slow down the economy.
I was saying a week ago that I thought the odds were 50-50 that we'll have a recession. I now think the odds are two and three or better. Certainly there are two or three, two and three are better if the administration stays on its current policy path. The best hope for the economy is a reversal of the current policy path.
DEAN: Hmm. I spoke with Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez yesterday. And he kept telling me he sees this as a market correction.
[19:15:02]
We were due for this. He said he's seen this happen many times in his lifetime. Do you agree with that assessment?
SUMMERS: Respectfully the congressman does not know what he's talking about. We've only seen a two-day move as large as this three times since the Second World War. So he hasn't seen it many times in his lifetime. This is something we saw in the 1987 crash, in the 2008 crash and the pandemic. None of them were good things. And so saying he's seen this kind of thing many times and is not important is simply demonstrating his lack of financial and economic knowledge. This may be the first time, but the statement you're quoting is just wrong.
DEAN: And there are a lot of people out there who are nervous. There are people on Wall Street and CEOs, obviously, that are very, very nervous and very frustrated, I think. There are also a lot of Americans out there who elected President Trump to bring down the cost of living in this country, which they think is just too high and doesn't make any sense for them and is too hard to get through day to day.
What do you say to those people, to those Americans who are looking around and saying, I don't know what to do? Is this going to affect me? What should I prepare for?
SUMMERS: I think what I'd say is that Ted Cruz, a super Republican, super conservative senator from Texas who's been a strong supporter of the president, says that automobile prices are going to go up $4500, that all kinds of businesses are saying they're going to have to pass on higher prices because of these tariffs. The estimates suggest that clothing prices are going to go up 17 percent, that they're right to want lower prices. They're right, I was -- I'm a Democrat, but I was early to say that President Biden's policies were not well-designed to prevent inflation and were going to set off inflation.
But putting taxes on things that are sold is the quintessential way to add to prices, not to reduce prices. So, yes, they're right to want lower prices and cost reducing policies. But those policies are not tariffs. Those policies are not driving down the purchasing power of the dollar as the president has -- president's policies have done. So he is not responding to what was the core desire of people who helped him get elected.
He should be pursuing policies that are directed at having lower prices. You know, one small -- one example of that is we had a set of programs that were really about what the president talks about, domestic competitiveness for lower prices. The CHIPS Act so we wouldn't be dependent on Taiwan, China, for all our semiconductors, exposing us to big risks of higher prices. And the president has cut off that program.
We had programs for new medical research that would enable lower priced pharmaceuticals and cures. The president is cutting off those kinds of approaches. So, yes, people should be worried about the cost of living. It's just that the policies we're pursuing are going in the wrong direction. The problem with the stock market going down is not that the primary issue right now is the wealth of the wealthiest Americans who own the stock market. It's that the stock market, by judging what's going to happen to all the American companies, is making a prediction about what's going to happen to the economy. And it's not a very positive prediction.
DEAN: Yes. All right. Larry Summers, thank you very much for your time tonight. We really appreciate it.
We have more on our breaking news ahead. Stock market futures declining sharply tonight as President Trump's tariffs sparked panic and confusion on Wall Street and beyond.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:24:25]
DEAN: Take a look there. Dow Futures tumbling more than 1500 points, signaling the massive market selloff will likely continue tomorrow. It's as President Trump sweeping new tariffs are facing blowback from really all corners of the stock market. You have the meltdown there. We see President Trump, I believe, arriving back in Washington, D.C. He is there at Joint Base Andrews.
We are told he did speak on the plane to reporters. We are working to bring that to you. And of course, we'll update you. He did talk about the markets and talk about his tariffs. So again, we're going to bring you that breaking news as soon as we get it.
[19:25:00]
But as he's arriving there back home to Washington for a new week, we are seeing continued foreign retaliation, widespread protests by massive crowds across the country. In the meantime, though, the president has remained defiant and he and his administration have really doubled down on this path ahead with these tariffs.
CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter is joining us now.
Brian, as we watch the president there arriving back from his Florida golf club, where he has spent the weekend, he really didn't use the weekend to communicate with the American people via television. He did post some posts on Truth Social. He was playing golf. What do you make of this moment for this presidency?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Right. On Wednesday, he let these tariffs come out and then the rest of the week into the weekend he let the void be filled by all of the critics and all of the people that are concerned. Maybe that speaks to his confidence about this. Look, Trump did not get to where he is today by being humble. His
narcissistic streak has a lot to do with this. His confidence about tariffs going back 30, 40 years has a lot to do with this. And his lame duck status also has a lot to do with this because he is not up for reelection again. Maybe that gives him more freedom to do what he wants and let the consequences be dammed.
But it is striking that he did not try to provide a kind of a relief in public over the weekend. You know, he's not out there trying to reassure people who are fearful and frantic about not just stocks but also about prices. You know, the folks I was in line with at Costco today, they're not just worried about 401(k)s, they're also worried about products costing more a week or a month from now.
There are a lot of different emotions attached to this story, and it's notable that Trump did post a couple times on Truth Social, a couple of times saying, we got to hold steady, hold firm. But he mostly posted about golf. The White House celebrated his golf performance, and earlier today he posted a video on Truth Social of him swinging on one of the tees.
So there is a kind of a confidence, I guess, that comes from that. And now we do know, Jessica, on the plane, on Air Force One, he did talk about this briefly with the press. He said that the markets have to take their medicine sometimes. He also said he's not intentionally trying to crash the markets. So we should hear those quotes from the president in just a few minutes.
DEAN: Yes, we are going to bring those as soon as we have them available for everyone to listen to. We've been talking a lot tonight, Brian, about the mixed messaging that we have gotten from the administration, specifically today as they go out on the Sunday shows, which is where obviously newsmakers, policy makers will go to try to make sure their message gets across, gets disseminated across the media.
And it was interesting to see them kind of all saying something a little bit different about where they're going with this policy. And also some of the right-wing media outlets even really denying the reality of the market reaction.
STELTER: Yes, there's definitely some of that going on. I would say there was more of that on Thursday and Friday. And as these days progress and as people have more and more fear about Monday morning and the stock market opening, I am noticing some change to the right- wing pro-Trump media reactions. A little bit less of that denialism, a little bit more of that sober minded reaction, trying to pressure President Trump to change course.
It's notable that some Trump loyalists, some promoters like Bill Ackman, the investment banker, you know, he's on X tonight publicly pleading with the president to change course, warning about an economic winter if the president doesn't hit the brakes on some of these tariffs that are supposed to go into effect on Wednesday.
We've seen other Trump allies also trying to get through to him via television, via social media, but it's unclear if Trump is listening or wants to listen. We know he was photographed reading the newspaper yesterday, the "New York Post," he was reading in print. He is getting some news. I suspect he also watched some of his Cabinet officials on the Sunday shows this morning because there was, you know, a sucking up was in overdrive this morning with some of those Cabinet secretaries.
But is the weight of this getting through to him? I think that's an open question. Or to use a golf analogy, is he in a bunker? You know, is he in a bunker not hearing the level of concern that exists right now around the world?
DEAN: Yes, and that is a big question. Brian, I want you to stay with us.
Again, we are anticipating to get those remarks from the president that he made on Air Force One, and we will bring them to you. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:33:45]
DEAN: All right, we are following breaking news. Take a look there at the futures market for tomorrow. You can see the Dow futures down almost 1,500, almost four percent there. So that is setting the stage as we head into another week. We saw a sell-off of roughly $6 trillion over two days Thursday and Friday. Those tariffs going to effect on Saturday. So, Monday of course, the first trading day since then. And then additional tariffs set to go into effect on Wednesday.
The markets are certainly having their say right now. I want to bring in Betsy Klein who is in west Palm Beach, Marc Stewart, who is joining us from Beijing. Brian Stelter, who is joining us as well. Betsy, the President, just to set the stage for everyone, has been in Florida playing golf throughout the weekend. We have not really heard from him except for some Truth Socials.
He did just post very shortly -- just shortly ago, calling the tariffs a beautiful thing to behold. That was his comment there. He says someday people will realize the tariffs for the United States of America are a very beautiful thing. We know he spoke on Air Force One as he was headed back to Washington, Betsy. We're going to play that tape for people as soon as we get it. But we are getting some notes. What was he talking about on Air Force One?
[19:35:01]
KLEIN: Yes, I mean, really the President's most substantive remarks since he announced these tariffs earlier last week, really laying out not offering a lot of clarity on the possibility of negotiation here. But the President said that he spent the weekend fielding calls from world leaders and tech executives. He said he spent the weekend speaking with leaders from Europe and Asia and all over the world, looking at my notes, he said, they are dying to make a deal. He claimed that in his conversations with tech leaders, their message was that they didn't blame him. And he said he talked to four or five of the biggest tech leaders. The President said he did not agree to any deals during those conversations this weekend. Officials have said that more than 50 countries' leaders have called the White House looking to strike some kind of negotiation in the wake of the President's tariff announcement, but the President did indicate some openness to a potential deal with China.
He said he is willing to deal, but they have to solve their trade surplus. The President obviously watching markets quite closely, Jessica. Dow future's down 1,500 points as you mentioned, so much at stake this week. The reciprocal tariffs that he's promised are set to go into effect on Wednesday. And really showing no signs here that he is going to back off.
DEAN: That he's going to let up. So, with all of that in mind, let's go to Beijing, where Marc is standing by, the Asian markets set to open very soon, Mark, and the President talking a little bit about China as well. Set the stage for us there. What the mood is, what you're anticipating to see?
STEWART: Well, let's start with the China question, Jessica. In fact, it was just this morning that we've now seen an editorial, a commentary in "People's Daily," part of Chinese state media, which is basically the government's messenger service
In that editorial China is striking a very defiant tone among the phrases the sky isn't falling away for China to show, to tell its population, but also the rest of the world that it is not going to back down. In fact, these tariffs, as one analyst pointed to me, are a sign to the world that China is going to remain very strong.
So, this is going to be interesting to see how things unfold. The White House is certainly holding a very firm position, and so too is Beijing.
In the next 30 minutes or so is when trading will begin across Asia. I'm going to be curious to not only watch what happens in Japan and South Korea, which of course, are manufacturing centers home to these auto giants like Honda, like Toyota and Hyundai, but also some smaller markets like Australia. The Australian stock market saw some declines on Friday.
Australia, too, has been targeted, with tariffs focusing on beef. I'm bringing all of this up because while this is certainly getting a lot of attention in the United States with the Dow, local economies here are also concerned and people of all income levels, whether they be middle class, upper class or somewhere below, a lot of people in many different parts of the world are losing a lot of money -- Jessica.
DEAN: And, Brian, we've got about a minute, I believe, until that and we're going to be rolling that video. One Tesla investor, the biggest investor in Tesla told me, Ross Gerber. The markets are literally screaming to Republicans, please do something else. You mentioned that -- so, you have those people in our economy. You also have the everyday Americans like you were talking about in line at Costco, that this is affecting.
STELTER: This is a historic moment for the markets, not in any positive way. This is in some ways analogous to the selloff in march of 2020, which took place over a few days. As that mystery virus created so much fear in the U.S. the difference this time it is not COVID-19. This is happening because of President Trump, but it is similar to March 2020, in terms of the damage.
And so far, Jessica, from what we know from what Trump's going to say in this video clip, some of the bulletins are going to the markets --
DEAN: I'm going to interrupt you. We're going to President Trump. Hang on one second.
STELTER: Yes.
DEAN: We're going to go now to President Trump's remarks. Stand by, everyone.
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Hello, everybody.
Are there any questions?
REPORTER: How was the golf tournament?
TRUMP: Very good, because I won. It's good to win. You heard I won, right? Did you hear I won? Just to back it up over there, I won.
REPORTER: What's your handicap these days?
TRUMP: Very low. I have a very low handicap. Okay. Let's go.
REPORTER: Sir, the Chinese foreign --
TRUMP: Back up a little bit.
REPORTER: Sir, The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the market has spoken when asked about the tariffs. What do you make of that?
TRUMP: Market has spoken. When they look at the fact that we have $1 billion trade deficit, when you look at the trade deficit that we have with certain countries, way over a billion per country, but with China, it's $1 trillion. And we have to solve our trade deficit with China. We have $1 trillion trade deficit with China, hundreds of billions of dollars a year, we lose with China. And unless we solve that problem. I'm not going to make a deal. I'm willing to deal with China, but they have to solve their surplus.
We have a tremendous deficit problem with China. They have a surplus of at least $1 trillion a year. I think it's like a trillion one. And I want that solved and no other President has taken it on. I had to take it on the last time. And then we had a rigged election. No other President has taken it on. And so, China is you know, they say the market has spoken. The market of China is right now taking a big hit because everyone knows we're right. They have to pay tariffs because otherwise we have a surplus that they have a surplus with us that is not sustainable.
[19:40:57]
REPORTER: Mr. President --
TRUMP: And we're talking about $1 trillion. You know that, right? We're not going to lose $1 trillion for the privilege of buying pencils from China.
REPORTER: On the idea of crashing the markets on purpose, there's been some speculation, partly because of the video that was posted on Truth Social, that there was some sort of deliberate effort on your part to have the markets selloff. Can you talk about that --
TRUMP: No, that's not so. But I do want to solve the deficit problem that we have with China, with the European Union and other nations, and they're going to have to do that. And if they want to talk about that, I'm open to talking. But otherwise, why would I want to talk? And as you know, because of the tariffs, we have $7 trillion already committed to be invested in the United States building auto plants, building chip companies and all sorts of companies are coming into our country at levels that we've never seen before.
Biden had nothing coming in. This was a dead company with -- this was a dead country with Biden. He didn't know what he was doing. And that's now been proven at least.
REPORTER: Mr. President, you talked to a lot of leaders this weekend. Can you tell us, sir, were there any deals made?
TRUMP: I spoke to a lot of leaders, European, Asian from all over the world. They're dying to make a deal. But I said, we're not going to have deficits with your country. We're not going to do that. Because to me, a deficit is a loss. We're going to have surpluses or we're at worst going to be breaking even.
But China would be the worst in the group because the deficit is so big and it's not sustainable. And, you know, I was elected on this. This was one of the biggest reasons I got elected was exactly because of this. And we're going to put tariffs. We've already put them on. It's not a question of we will. We're going to put them on and those tariffs next year will make us $1 trillion. In addition to the $1 trillion, thousands of companies are going to relocate back into the United States.
In North Carolina, already, furniture people are starting to move back in, in Detroit and Michigan, which I won because of what I said -- what I'm telling you, car companies are starting to open up in Indiana a big one is under construction. As an example, Honda. But they're moving in like nobody's ever seen this before. So its unsustainable for us to allow China to have surpluses of $1 trillion.
We will be taking in over $1 trillion over the next short period of time with the tariffs that I've already instituted. They're already in place. Now, what's going to happen with the market? I can't tell you, but I can tell you our country has gotten a lot stronger and eventually it will be a country like no other. It will be the most dominant country economically in the world, which is what it should be.
REPORTER: Mr. President, is there a Trump put, though -- is there a market -- is there pain in the market at some point you're unwilling to tolerate this idea of a Trump put? Is there a threshold?
TRUMP: I think your question is so stupid. I mean, I think it's a -- I don't want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something and we have such a, a horrible -- we have been treated so badly by other countries because we had stupid leadership that allowed this to happen. They took our businesses, they took our money, they took our jobs, they moved it to Mexico, they moved it to Canada. They moved a lot of it to China and it's not sustainable. We're not going to do it.
Now, we have hundreds of billions of dollars that's pouring into our country on a monthly basis, it is pouring, it's already started because I put tariffs on and eventually it's going to straighten out and our country will be solid and strong again.
REPORTER: Elon Musk has said he hopes for zero tariffs between the U.S. and Europe. Is that a place you'd like to also get to?
[19:45:07]
TRUMP: Well, the problem is that Europe has made a fortune with us. You know, Europe also has had a tremendous surplus with the United States. Europe has treated us -- it's a little smaller but they've treated us very, very badly.
China has, but Europe has also, Europe has been very, very bad. Europe has taken our leaders for a ride. They don't take our cars. They don't take our food products. They don't take anything. And we take their cars. Mercedes, Volkswagen, BMW, you know, we take their millions of cars, they take no cars. They don't take our farm product. They don't take anything.
Europe's treated us very badly. We put a big tariff on Europe. They are coming to the table, they want to talk, but there's no talk unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis.
Number one, for present but also for past, because they've taken a lot of our wealth away, and we're not going to allow it to happen.
REPORTER: Sir, have you talked to any tech leaders over the weekend about the tariffs?
TRUMP: Yes, I talked to the biggest in the world. I talked to the biggest of them all. Many of them, but I've talked to -- I would say four or five that are considered the biggest. They don't -- you know what they said, we don't blame you.
REPORTER: Who did you talk to?
TRUMP: I don't want to say. I'll put it out. I may give it to you --
REPORTER: Any, tech CEO?
TRUMP: I have to find out if they mind. You know, I don't know if that was a confidential call or not, but we had five or six. I've spoken to many countries they all want to do -- just so you understand the power of what I'm doing. Every country is calling and being very solicitous of us. Very, very nice. They're being very nice. And we have to be able to justify.
This is not sustainable. The United States can't lose $1.9 trillion on trade.
We can't do that and also spend a lot of money on NATO in order to protect European nations. We cover them with military. Then we lose money on trade -- the whole thing is crazy and I got elected on that basis. We explained it. You know, the American people understand it a lot better than the media, but the media understands it. And much of the media writes correctly about it. I must say.
REPORTER: Sir.
TRUMP: Okay.
REPORTER: Sir, what do you -- when are the next set of talks with Russia and who will participate? And where are we in terms of making progress in terms of peace?
TRUMP: We're talking to Russia. We'd like them to stop. I don't like the bombing. The bombing goes on and on, and every week people -- thousands of young people are being killed. And it's a horrible thing that should have never started, would have never started if I were President, 100 percent.
REPORTER: On the tariffs, is it a negotiation now?
TRUMP: Who are you?
REPORTER: Bloomberg, sir, is it a negotiation or rules of the road?
TRUMP: Go ahead, another question please.
REPORTER: Sir, about --
TRUMP: She asked too many questions.
REPORTER: Sir, about TikTok, there was a report that there was about to be a deal but China changed its mind because of the tax.
TRUMP: It was largely true. The reporters that we had a deal pretty much with TikTok, not a deal, but pretty close. And then China changed the deal because of tariffs. If I gave a little cut in tariffs, they'd approve that deal in 15 minutes, which shows you the power of tariffs. REPORTER: Mr. President, former New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu is saying that he'll win the open Senate seat in New Hampshire and that he has no doubt you'll support him if he runs. Is that true?
TRUMP: True, I told him he came to my office, came to the Oval Office and met with Chris Sununu, and I support him fully. I hope he runs. He's been very nice to me over the last year or so, but no, I hope he runs. I think he'll win that seat.
REPORTER: Sir, when we get into late summer, early fall, and people are doing their back to school shopping, do you think they'll have inflation to worry about at that point?
TRUMP: I think there's not going to be -- I don't think inflation is going to be a big deal, because if you look at me, I took in hundreds of billions of dollars. This is not new to me. I took in during my four years, hundreds of billions of dollars from China and we also took in a lot of money from other countries, but in particular China, because it was just getting started. And there was -- we had no inflation.
Who had inflation was Biden, Biden had the worst inflation in the history of our country. I had no inflation. We had a perfect country. We had no wars. I ended them all. I defeated ISIS, everything was good. And then when this, numskull got in, as they really call themselves now, numskulls, but when he got in, bad things happened to our country, including our open border. And now we're doing very well with, you know, we have the best numbers on the border that we've ever had.
REPORTER: Speaking of the border, have you talked to Attorney General Pam Bondi recently about the cases going on with the deportations?
TRUMP: Yes, sure. It's really sad when you think that Biden allowed millions of people to come in. And if they find one now, I will tell you the one somebody said he's a member of MS-13, not Tren de Aragua. He's a member of MS-13 and therefore he should immediately be brought back. Well, MS-13 is just as bad as Tren de Aragua. So, they say, oh we made a mistake because he's not with them. He's with MS-13. Bring him back, bring him back. MS-13 is a very bad group. Maybe as bad actually.
[19:50:38]
REPORTER: Sir, how concerned are you about the measles outbreak? There was another fatality today and what else would you like to see in terms of the response?
TRUMP: Well, I think they're doing reports on it. It's so far a fairly small number of people relative to what we're talking about, something that people have known about for many, many years. I mean, measles has been, you know, this is not something new and we'll see what happens. But certainly if something -- if it, you know, progresses we'll have to take action on it very strongly.
REPORTER: El Salvador's President said on X that he'd been invited to the White House on April 14th for a working visit to discuss Tren de Aragua and MS-13 and other ways we can support each other, the U.S. and El Salvador. I was curious if you could expand more on what some of these other ideas you have for El Salvador?
TRUMP: I think yes, I think, you know, you're in the way of that camera by the way. Am I -- you should at least say that the camera operator should probably say that she's shooting the back of your head. You know, I don't know why she doesn't say it. I have to say it and say it.
I have great respect for him. I know him, I've known him for a long time. He's a young leader and he's very tough on crime, very, very tough on crime. And in their system, their prison system, they spend a tiny fraction of the money that this country spends. So, but he is coming in. I don't know when, but he is coming in sometime over the next couple of weeks.
REPORTER: What are you and Prime Minister Netanyahu going to speak about tomorrow?
TRUMP: We're going to talk about trade, and we're going to talk about the obvious subject. You know, what the obvious subject is.
REPORTER: Do you have any news for us?
TRUMP: I'm trying to do trade, just to keep it down. Listen, there's a lot of things going on with the Middle East right now that have to be silenced. You know, we had no problem with the Middle East. Everything was done. We had no problem with Iran. We had no problem with anybody. And then you had October 7th. And that was all because Iran, as you know, was not giving money to anybody because they had no money. Now they have a lot of money. So, we'll see what happens.
REPORTER: Back to El Salvador, the president there said he would be willing to take American citizens in the federal prison population. Is that one of the ideas you're going to be discussing?
TRUMP: Well, I love that. If we could take some of our 20 time wise guys that push people into subways and that hit people over the back of the head and that purposely run people over in cars, if he would take them, I'd be honored to give them. I don't know what the law says on that, but I can't imagine the law would say anything different. If they can house these horrible criminals for a lot less money than it costs us. I'm all for it, but I don't --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: All right, you are listening to President Donald Trump, who was speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington, D.C. tonight. I want to bring back in Marc Stewart, Betsy Klein, and Brian Stelter.
Betsy, let's start first with you in West Palm Beach. Again, just this big question still looming. Is this a deal? Is this negotiations? What are these tariffs about? He said he's willing to do a deal with China. Leaders are dying to make a deal, but we're still not sure exactly what the exact purpose of these tariffs are, what outcome they really want.
KLEIN: Yes, really offering no further clarity there speaking to reporters on Air Force One, his most substantive remarks of the weekend after he hit the golf course three consecutive days, he said that he had conversations with tech executives and world leaders. He said they're, "being very nice," but didn't indicate that any deals had been struck.
He was asked notably about whether Americans should expect inflation when doing their back to school shopping. Really dismissed those concerns, he said. I don't expect inflation and then the President, who really views himself as a dealmaker, laid out in clear terms what it is going to take to get a deal with China, he said, they have to solve their surplus. He said he wanted to solve the deficit with the European Union and if they're open to that, he said he is open to talking.
He also weighed in, Jessica, on the market volatility. Of course, we're seeing the DOW futures tumble ahead of next week's opening bell, dismissing any suggestions that he intentionally crashed the market but declined to predict what would happen. Said that the U.S. is getting stronger.
DEAN: And Brian, I just want to go to you because, look, were watching the market futures. There's a box right there. We're all watching them as we look ahead to Monday to see what that's going to hold.
[19:55:00]
STELTER: Yes, this is a reminder that his grievances are driving his tariff campaign. You heard those grievances over and over again. While Trump was speaking the futures did improve slightly, slightly. We're talking about the Dow being down 1,300 in the future as opposed to 1,500. There was a slight amount of improvement. But the overall picture is very, very dark. If these futures hold, the S&P will open tomorrow morning in bear market territory. The NASDAQ is already in bear market territory. The futures that are part of the Russell 2000 are being hit the hardest tonight, Jessica.
And that's notable because the Russell 2000 is an index of smaller companies. And that's down even more than the Dow 30. The price of oil down more than three percent tonight sinking below $60.00 a barrel. That's a recessionary signal. And the crypto market is also down sharply. Bitcoin down about six percent, other cryptos are way, way down tonight. So, what we're seeing is a continuation of Thursday and Friday now into Monday. So far the month of April is shaping up to be bloody April.
DEAN: Yes it certainly is and, Marc, as Asia prepares to open its markets, we heard a lot about China from the President there too.
STEWART: Right and while the President says he may be willing to negotiate, the feeling from Beijing right now, that's certainly not on the table. China is being very firm. In fact, over the weekend, there were a series of programs on Chinese state television, which is the messenger service. One expert said this marks the end of U.S. global dominance in the trade war dating back to 1945.
China knew what to expect under Trump 2.0. It's been looking to other markets to do business besides the United States. And perhaps this is a signal that China is going to stand even stronger than before.
DEAN: All right, much more to come when we wake up tomorrow here in the U.S. To see what it brings, we watch overnight to Asia. Betsy, Brian, and Marc, our thanks to all three of you. We really appreciate your analysis there.
And thank you for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean, we're going to see you right back here next weekend.
A new Fareed Zakaria special, "The War On Government" is happening next. Have a great night, everyone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:00:00]
