Trump: "We Should Not Waste Money on Unnecessary Items"
Donald Trump, the former President of the United States, who has long claimed that tariffs would make America wealthier, has now shifted his stance by acknowledging the economic burdens caused by tariffs.
On May 6 (local time), the Washington Post (WP) assessed that President Trump's rhetoric on tariffs has "noticeably changed" in recent weeks.
Until now, President Trump had emphasized only the positive effects, insisting that tariffs would make America wealthier. However, he has recently argued that Americans must endure higher prices caused by tariffs in order to strengthen the U.S. economy, and that they should forgo inexpensive foreign products and exercise restraint.
At a cabinet meeting on April 30, President Trump said, "Maybe kids will have two dolls instead of 30," adding, "And those two dolls might cost a few dollars more than usual."
Later, in an interview with NBC on May 4, President Trump explained, "I was simply saying that kids don't need 30 dolls. They don't need 250 pencils. Five is enough." He added, "We don't have to waste money on a trade deficit with China to buy things we don't need, things that are just junk."
Cabinet members in the Trump administration have also delivered similar messages. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a Fox News interview that, in response to soaring egg prices, Americans could raise chickens in their backyards. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said in a CBS interview that it is "worth enduring" a recession in order to realize the economic vision of sustained prosperity.
However, there are voices suggesting that the public is unlikely to respond positively to this "shift in attitude" by the Trump administration regarding tariffs. Marc Short, who served as an aide to former Vice President Mike Pence, said, "I don't think it will be well received," adding, "It is difficult to accept, at least on the surface, that the President, who has made billions from cryptocurrency, is asking the American people to cut back on toys and supplies for their children."
Jared Bernstein, who served as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) in the Biden administration, also criticized, "It's hard to imagine how most Americans would feel if billionaires told them to 'lower their standard of living' for a goal that is hard to define and seems unattainable."
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