Trump Reveals the Real Reason He Backed Off on Tariffs: People Were ‘Yippy’ and ‘Afraid’

President Donald Trump told the press he decided to delay the implementation of sweeping tariffs he unveiled last week because people were getting “yippy” and “afraid” on Wednesday afternoon.

In a Truth Social post earlier in the day, Trump announced that while he was raising tariffs on China even higher, he had “authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%” on other countries.

Allies of the president quickly showered him with praise, suggesting that the decision was part of a carefully calibrated negotiating strategy.

“Behold the ‘Art of the Deal,’” marveled Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA). “President Trump has created leverage, brought MANY countries to the table, and will deliver for American workers, American manufacturers, and America’s future!”

“This was brilliantly executed by @realDonaldTrump. Textbook, Art of the Deal,” wrote hedge fund manager, Bill Ackman, who also offered thanks “on behalf of all Americans.”

But at an event outside of the White House, Trump himself offered a different explanation for his decision.

“You started the morning saying, ‘Be cool,’ and just a few hours later, there was a pause put in on the tariffs,” observed one reporter. “Can you walk us through your thinking about why you decided to put a 90-day pause on the tariffs?”

“Well, I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting yippy, you know, they were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit  afraid — unlike these champions — because we have a big job to do,” answered Trump. “No other president would have done what I did. No other pres-, I know the presidents, they wouldn’t have done it. And it had to be done.”

He continued:

What was happening to us on trade, not only with, you know, if you look at it, not only China, but China was by far the biggest abuser in history and others also. But somebody had to do it, they had to stop because it was not sustainable. Last year China made one trillion dollars off trade with the United States. That’s not right, and now I’ve reversed it. It’s for a short period of time, but we made two billion dollars-, we’re making now two billion a day and somebody had to do it.

Watch his full answer above via Fox News.