2 months ago
4
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s spin on President Donald Trump’s decision to pause/reverse his controversial tariffs drew mockery on social media.
Leavitt chided reporters on Wednesday when she appeared to argue that Trump’s decision to roll back most of the tariffs he announced last week — following days of sliding stock markets, fears of a global recession and criticism from even his most loyal backers — was actually part of his plan all along.
With an apparent nod to Trump’s 1980s memoir-business advice book “The Art Of The Deal,” Leavitt said:
“Many of you in the media clearly missed the art of the deal, you clearly failed to see what President Trump is doing here. You try to say that the rest of the world would be moved closer to China when in fact we’ve seen the opposite of that. The entire world is calling the United States of America, not China, because they need our markets, they need our consumers and they need this president in the Oval Office to talk to them.”
Trump has also shown “great courage,” she claimed, with his newly-increased tariff of 125% on Chinese imports.
Watch here:
Critics called B.S. on the explanation, though.
The denial of reality is, frankly, insane.
Trump is a coward. He got scared and ran away.
Same as he did with Canada.
Same as he did with Mexico.
I assume plenty of his buddies bought the dip while he cheated at golf — The art of the steal.
He tanked the economy and then he reversed course.
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) April 9, 2025I didn't know the art of the deal included tanking the stock market. Guess I should have read the book.
— CrowsUncle (@CrowsUncle) April 9, 2025If you have to explain the “art” of the deal after it causes a recession, it probably wasn’t a deal, it was a disaster.
— Nikos Unity (@nikosunity) April 9, 2025Nice try but no amount of spin can turn this self inflicted economic chaos into “the art of the deal.”
What we’re seeing a damage control wrapped in shameful denial.
When tariffs tank markets and small businesses crumble, propaganda won’t pay the bills. They’ll run out of…
Or maybe he realized what he was doing is stupid. Who are these countries also?
— X•VI (@scarfaceGary) April 9, 2025Leavitt's spin on Trump's tariff mess is laughable. The market's tanking, and they’re calling it "art of the deal"? More like art of the crash. 90 days of chaos and a 125% China tariff, recipe for disaster, not negotiation. Wake up, this is reckless.
— Richard Angwin (@RichardAngwin) April 9, 2025We Don't Work For Billionaires. We Work For You.
Big money interests are running the government — and influencing the news you read. While other outlets are retreating behind paywalls and bending the knee to political pressure, HuffPost is proud to be unbought and unfiltered. Will you help us keep it that way? You can even access our stories ad-free.
You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again. We won't back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can't do it without you.
For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you'll join us.
You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again. We won't back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can't do it without you.
For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you'll join us.
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
What art of the deal? Not even the penguins called. Every country went ahead with their tariffs while the narcissist gambler waited for world leaders to line up in D.C. What a small-minded man-child, unfit for nothing
— Ilyas Ibrahim Mohamed (@iiliyaa) April 9, 2025
English (US) ·