Senior trade adviser Peter Navarro defended President Donald Trump's tariff policies Wednesday on Newsmax, arguing that critics focus on the wrong concerns instead of addressing the impact of unfair trade practices on American jobs.
"What's the first thing they [say]? … 'Well, tariffs cause inflation.' Well, where have they been for the last 20 years? Not asking the question, How many jobs, how many hundreds of thousands of jobs, how many millions of manufacturing jobs have we lost? How many factories have we lost? How much tax revenue have we lost?" he queried.
Navarro appeared on "Finnerty," pushing back against criticisms of Trump tariffs and questioning why detractors fail to examine the broader consequences of U.S. trade policy.
"Let me make one thing just absolutely crystal clear," Navarro said. "All I do is follow the vision and the direction of President Donald J. Trump."
He emphasized that Trump has been consistent on trade since the 1980s, envisioning a system different from what Navarro described as today's "unfair trade across the board."
"We're a country that every major trading partner takes advantage of us [and] runs up major deficits," he said.
He rebutted earlier warnings from The Wall Street Journal, which he said had predicted economic turmoil, including inflation or a general downturn in economic activity, caused by tariffs.
"In the first term, when the president implemented things like steel and aluminum and solar tariffs, The Wall Street Journal . . . called it 'Navarro's recession.' They predicted basically [that] the tariffs were going to cause a recession. Of course, that never came. We had nothing but prosperity and price stability," Navarro said.
Navarro accused The Wall Street Journal of supporting corporate interests in a global trade system prioritizing job offshoring.
He suggested that an alternative economic publication, which he sarcastically called the "Main Street Journal," would focus on issues such as keeping jobs in the U.S. rather than advocating for free trade policies that benefit large corporations.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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