Transcription
30%. That is the amount of a new tariff President Trump just announced on goods from the European Union and Mexico, starting August 1st.
President Trump also making threats this week, warning Canada, Japan, South Korea, and Brazil that new tariffs are on the way.
"Well, it shows that Donald Trump thinks he can maybe get a deal by threatening to escalate. But I have to think I think it will backfire. I think what he has signaled to the EU is that all the efforts that the European Commission has made to try to accommodate, try to negotiate a deal meant nothing for Trump."
Let's bring back in New York Times White House correspondent Tyler Pager. As promised, he's also the coauthor of the new book, "2024: How Trump Retook the White House and Democrats Lost America." We're definitely going to get to your book, Tyler, in just a second. But first, these new tariffs, the EU and Mexico, two of America's biggest trading partners. What's your reaction to this?
"Yeah, I mean, this is the strategy and the playbook that we've seen the President adopt on a whole range of issues, particularly as it relates to tariffs, a favored policy of his that he was held back from doing in his first term and is full steam ahead doing now. I mean, I think what we're seeing is the President wants to secure wins. He's using this as a negotiating tactic. We've seen him move the deadlines, threaten new tariffs, and he's done it to a certain extent. And then when we saw the markets, particularly the bond market, react negatively, he sort of had to adjust course. So I think the, you know, Americans, America's allies across the world are braced for this sort of negotiating tactic and trying to figure out a path forward. But it's very clear Trump is committed to this, and he thinks this is the best way to get a deal. Whether or not that's true, I think remains to be seen. But that's clearly what the strategy is here."
Well, look, it's not stopping there because the President is prepping some new blanket tariffs for trading partners around the globe. In fact, and you had last weekend, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying we would see deals this week. Didn't happen. What are you hearing out of the White House? Is there frustration that these deals aren't done, even if the administration says, yeah, they're being worked on?
"Yeah. I mean, this is something that we've posed this question to the President. I was traveling with him just before July 4th when he went to Iowa, and we were pressing him on this exact question. He said, look, there's so many countries we're getting deals, you know, sort of the typical bluster and bluffing that we've seen from the President throughout his political career. I mean, I think there's undoubtedly frustration. They want to be able to announce deals. One of Trump's economic advisors promised 90 deals in 90 days. Everyone said at the time that was nearly impossible. These are the sorts of things that take months to work out. So, you know, we'll see if these new sort of tariffs expedite any sort of process there. But it's clear that they did not get what they set out to do at this point so far."
Separate from the tariffs, Trump also teased a major announcement Monday. It's on Russia. So could that be related to the, quote, new approach in negotiations? Secretary of State Rubio mentioned this week.
"Yeah, I mean, I think we're waiting to see exactly what the President is going to do on Russia. I think it has been interesting to see his rhetoric and body language towards Putin evolve over the last several months. Don't forget, this is the war that Donald Trump said as a candidate he would end in 24 hours. He has been very frustrated by what he sees as Putin's intransigence in trying to get a peace deal. He has said repeatedly at this point that he does not think Putin wants to make a deal. And the other really interesting thing about this is the new arrangement he seems to be following in terms of trying to get more weapons to Ukraine, selling them to NATO, and that NATO gives them to Ukraine. So the posture Donald Trump has taken is dramatically different from the one that we saw in that infamous Oval Office meeting where he and JD Vance erupted at Zelensky because they thought he was not being grateful enough. It is clear his strategy, again on this issue of promising he would get a deal has not borne fruit yet. And so we might see this shifting course, which could be a weapons announcement through NATO or some other sort of action."
Time for your book. And you coauthored it. You write about a shocking donor meeting where then candidate Donald Trump told donors, quote, "I was with Putin and I told him, Vladimir, if you do it, meaning attack Ukraine, we're going to bomb the bleep out of Moscow." And Trump added he could bomb Beijing if Chinese President Xi invaded Taiwan. Now, Trump said Putin mostly didn't believe him, but there was room for doubt. NBC News has not independently verified this conversation, but you know the questions to you, Tyler. First of all, when would Trump have said this to Putin? And secondly, how serious was he? Because it sparks concerns, given their somewhat souring relationship right now?
"Yeah, I mean, this is something that he said to donors sort of bragging about his foreign policy approach as part of the argument that we've heard him say publicly many times that if he was president, Putin would have never invaded Ukraine. This is, you know, he's referencing, you know, it's not exactly clear, but it seems to be he's referencing conversations he had with Putin during his first term. But I think this is, again, part of the sort of bluster that we see from Donald Trump. He's very openly saying that, you know, he didn't believe me, but even if he just believed me a little bit, it's the same sort of approach he's taking with the tariffs. Right. Escalatory, threatening, this bellicose rhetoric to try to get what he wants. And he thinks that sort of strongman attitude works on the foreign policy, the global stage. He has found success on NATO. Right. They raised their GDP spending to 5% on defense and military expenditures. So he has found some success in some of these areas. And we're seeing that he's not finding that in others, particularly as it relates to trying to solve the Russia-Ukraine war."
We should also say that you recalled how Trump's campaign staff identified the Republican coalition that eventually got him elected as the male vote. That has been something that is definitely worth reading and understanding and dissecting it the way you do it. Is the book "2024: How Trump Retook the White