During a Tuesday interview at the Economic Club of Chicago, former President Donald Trump boasted about accomplishments in his first term and presented bold plans to revitalize American prosperity, confidently discussing tariffs, job creation, and foreign policy.
An interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait covered various topics, including trade policy, the Federal Reserve, and foreign relations, and Trump used the platform to defend his aggressive tariff plans and reaffirm his stance as the candidate voters trust most on economic issues.
He made a strong case for his America First agenda, promising to impose tariffs on companies that outsource manufacturing. He said he believes this policy would protect American jobs and bolster the domestic economy.
Although Micklethwait questioned the potential fallout of such tariffs, especially regarding U.S. relations with allies, Trump was undeterred, arguing that his approach would strengthen the country.
"It's going to have a massive effect – positive effect," Trump said. "It must be hard for you to spend 25 years talking about tariffs as being negative and then have somebody explain to you that you're totally wrong."
"How does it help you take on China, turning all of your allies against you?" Micklethwait said.
"Tremendously, because China thinks we're a stupid country," Trump said. "They can't believe somebody finally got wise to them."
Another focal point of the conversation was the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell. Trump, who nominated Powell during his presidency, expressed frustration over Powell's decisions on interest rates.
"I think I'm better than most people would be in that position," Trump said, criticizing Powell for keeping rates high during his presidency and for recent decisions to lower them.
When pressed about the impact of his economic policies, particularly regarding inflation and national debt, Trump pushed back against critics, including The Wall Street Journal, saying they had been "wrong about everything." He touted his administration's record of low inflation, saying, "I had four years of no inflation."
Beyond economic policy, Trump reiterated his commitment to tackling illegal immigration and preserving the U.S. steel industry.
"We were going to lose all our steel companies," Trump noted, referencing his decision to impose a 50% tariff to successfully stop China from dumping cheap steel into the U.S. market.
On foreign policy, Trump addressed China's increasing aggression toward Taiwan, asserting the Biden-Harris administration emboldened Beijing's actions.
"The reason they're doing it now is they're not going to do it" after I'm re-elected, he said.