President-elect Donald Trump heralded the "proper" use of tariffs to settle many of the plagues of the outgoing Biden administration, including war, national security, economic decline, and illegal immigration.
"They cost Americans nothing," Trump told NBC News "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker, who attempted to blame Trump-era tariffs for massive Biden-era inflation. "They made a great economy for us.
"They also solve another problem, if we are going to have problems having to do with wars and having to do with other things.
"I have stopped wars with tariffs by saying, 'You guys want to fight, it's great, but both of you are going to pay tariffs to the United States at 100%.'"
Tariffs are a leveraging tool to protect his American first agenda to bring about world peace, secure borders, and American economic prosperity, according to Trump.
"They have many purposes, tariffs, if properly used," he continued. "I don't say you use them like a madman, I say properly used.
"But it didn't cost this country anything. It made this country money. And we never really got the chance to go all out because we had to fight COVID in the last part.
"Tariffs, properly used, are a very powerful tool."
Instead of rattling military weaponry, Trump intends to rattle tariffs as his economic saber.
"All I want to do is have a level, fast, but fair playing field," he said.
It will make America safe, rich, and great again on the world stage, he added.
"I'm a big believer in tariffs," he said. "I think tariffs are the most beautiful word. I think they're beautiful. It's going to make us rich."
And tariffs can quell the massive illegal immigration flowing into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada, Trump added.
"We are subsidizing Canada to the tune over $100 billion a year; we're subsidizing Mexico for almost $300 billion," Trump said. "We shouldn't be – why are we subsidizing these countries? If we're going to subsidize them, let them become a state.
"We're subsidizing Mexico, and we're subsidizing Canada, and we're subsiding many countries all over the world."