Trump Rampages Over NYT Story On Mexico Tariffs: ‘They Are Truly The Enemy of the People!’

Caleb HoweJun 9th, 2019, 10:12 am
 

President Donald Trump delivers remarks in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC on February 15, 2019 regarding the border wall and his declaring an emergency in order to get funding.

President Donald Trump opened up a whole thread of rage on Twitter Sunday in response to the devastating New York Times report, published Saturday, that Mexico’s concessions were not a result of pressure from tariffs but rather months of preparation. The random caps rant accused the Times of being fake news and disputed the premise of the story, if not any of the actual facts.

The Times reported that the deal which Trump announced on Friday “consists largely of actions that Mexico had already promised to take in prior discussions with the United States over the past several months,” and that it was not in the main reached because Mexico was responding to the tariff threat.

Trump was enraged on Twitter on Sunday and unleashed a threaded tirade. He began by pointing out that the Times was correct that such border actions had been something the U.S. was trying to get from Mexico for a long time. He said that for many years “Mexico was not being cooperative on the Border,” but that now he has “full confidence” that they will “be very cooperative” going forward.

He said that one thing not mentioned in “yesterday press release,” presumably referring to Friday’s announcement, didn’t include one item “in particular” that was agreed upon but not announced yet.

He then said that the New York Times will do anything to see the country “fail” and added the Enemy of the People line as his closer.

It was not a specific dispute of any point, except to confirm that items agreed to had been on the table for months, as the report indicated.

…and a short time later, a follow-up:

WaPo reporter Glenn Kessler responded to the Tweetstorm.


Although Trump could have said that the Times own article, in arguing that it was months of negotiation which brought about portions of this deal, was still inadvertently crediting his administration’s efforts, it was probably the challenges to his backbone on tariffs that enraged him.

From the article:

Having threatened Mexico with an escalating series of tariffs — starting at 5 percent and growing to 25 percent — the president faced enormous criticism from global leaders, business executives, Republican and Democratic lawmakers, and members of his own staff that he risked disrupting a critical marketplace.

After nine days of uncertainty, Mr. Trump backed down and accepted Mexico’s promises.

With the tariff threat gone, at least for now, and Mexico agreeing to at least some items on the table, the good news is that a deal means no added pain for American wallets and purses.

Corrected typo: Glenn Kessler is with the Washington Post, not the NYT.

[Featured photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty]

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Caleb Howe - Contributing Editor

Caleb Howe is an editor and writer focusing on politics and media. Former managing editor at RedState. Published at USA Today, Blaze, National Review, Daily Wire, American Spectator, AOL News, Asylum, fortune cookies, manifestos, napkins, fridge drawings...