In a candid appearance Tuesday on Newsmax's "Rob Schmitt Tonight," CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin reflected on how he — and much of Wall Street — misjudged President Donald Trump's approach to tariffs.
The longtime financial journalist and New York Times columnist admitted that his initial reaction to Trump's trade strategy was wrong, crediting the president for his willingness to adjust course as the economic effects unfolded.
"So, I'll tell you where I got it wrong," Sorkin said early in the interview. "I got it wrong, and I think Wall Street got it wrong, and a lot of people got it wrong, when he first made his pronouncement about Liberation Day."
At the time, Sorkin recalled, Trump's proposed tariffs appeared poised to trigger immediate market chaos.
"The tariff rates that he was talking about were high, super high, and immediately the truth was that the bond market freaked out," he said.
But then, he said, Trump responded strategically.
"To the president's credit, he actually looked at what was happening with the bond market and he said, 'You know what? I'm going to take some time. I'm going to try to figure this out. I'm going to negotiate country by country.' And he's been doing that."
According to Sorkin, this more methodical approach has eased Wall Street's worst fears while still leaving unresolved challenges in the global trading system.
"There's still a couple other countries that he's trying to figure it out with," he said, noting that "those are still real issues, and I think they're going to have an impact on the economy to some degree."
Turning to today's economic landscape, Sorkin highlighted what he called the "AI boom," describing it as a transformative force that's simultaneously energizing and masking deeper structural risks.
"One of the things that's fascinating about our economy right now is this whole AI boom and all the investment that's being made in America," he said. "So, tons of money is coming in, to the president's credit, by the way. I'm here to tell you, it's happening."
He emphasized that the artificial intelligence surge is "carrying the stock market and, to a large degree, it's carrying the economy," but warned that this soaring optimism could come with consequences.
"There's no question it feels like we're levitating," he said. "What I don't know is what would be the inflection point in all of this."
If investors lose confidence, Sorkin cautioned, the market could face a sharp correction reminiscent of past bubbles.
"People talk about this being more like the dot-com bubble," he noted. "There was a bubble towards the end of the '90s, and then … it popped."
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