Fox News Host Straight Up Asks Trump If New Tariffs Will ‘Hurt the Economy’

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade pressed President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning on whether or not he’s worried that his latest round of tariffs will “hurt the economy,” which is already suffering as a result of the ongoing war in Iran.

Trump’s temporary 10% global tariffs expire at the end of the week and are set to be replaced by another set of sweeping 10 to 12.5% global tariffs on U.S. trading partners that make up some 90% of all U.S. imports.

“So Mr. President, with the economy, that’s gonna be a focus. I want you to focus… yesterday in the midterms in Michigan — are you worried that the tariffs that you put forward over the last couple of days will hurt the economy as they adjust in bringing manufacturing home?” Kilmeade asked.

“No, because it’s bringing hundreds of billions of dollars. I was at General Motors yesterday. They have the best year, they have the most trucks, the most cars. The tariffs have saved General Motors,” Trump replied, adding:

What I’ve done to the auto business, what I’ve done to the chip business — we have chip companies now making, building hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of chip plants in Arizona, the biggest company, chip company of its kind in the world. I mean, the biggest company there is in the chip world is building a $400 billion plant. We’re going to end up with 40% to 50% of the chip business from nothing, in a year and a half from now.

No, no, the tariffs have… I mean, it’s a shame that I have to go a harder way for the tariffs because the Supreme Court, in a very close decision, ruled against me. Now, I have other ways of doing the same thing, but it’s a more cumbersome way of doing it. But the tariffs have made this country a fortune. It made the country rich. And I stopped eight wars — I would say five of them — because of tariffs, a threat of tariffs.

Stopped India and Pakistan from going into a nuclear war. The threat of tariffs stopped numerous other countries from going to war. These tariffs — it’s the greatest thing. And only the really smart people, or the people that are non-political and that get it, talk about it. The Democrats know how good it’s been. We have the hottest car business. We’re right now building more car plants than at any time in our history. Toyota just left Mexico — they just announced they’re building $12 billion worth of plants in the United States, all because they want to avoid tariffs. They have no tariffs if they build their product here.

“So the USMCA — are you looking to update that?” Kilmeade followed up, referring to the Trump-negotiated trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.

“I don’t care. I mean, I don’t really want to. I’d rather be independent. Here’s the thing: Mexico and Canada need us, we don’t need them. The deal is important for them, it’s not important for us,” Trump replied.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

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