On Thursday, President Donald Trump utilized a medical metaphor to describe the status of his “mutual tariff” strategy, which he announced on what he termed “liberation day.”
“The operation is complete! The patient is stable and recovering,” Trump stated in The Truth Society. “The forecast is that patients are stronger, larger, better, and more resilient than ever. Make America great again!”
The Dow Jones industrial average started off over 1,000 points down on Thursday morning following Trump’s declaration of his most aggressive tariff strategy at the White House Rose Garden Ceremony the day prior, yet government officials stayed hopeful in an early morning TV interview. They promoted the anticipated benefits of managing US manufacturing and further enhancing American labor.
White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt informed CNN that the United States is “no longer deceived by foreign entities globally.”
Senate approves Trump's bill on Canadian tariffs shortly after the “liberation day” event
President Donald Trump reviews charts while discussing mutual tariffs at an event in the Rose Garden, titled “Make America Wealthy,” held at the White House in Washington, DC on April 2, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
“We have a trade deficit amounting to $1.2 trillion. Over the past several decades, 90,000 factories have shut down,” Leavitt shared with CNN. “Since 1997, five million manufacturing jobs have left American workers. These figures represent real lives impacted, and now we have a president who is taking action.”
Leavitt mentioned that the nation targeted by Trump's mutual tariffs “has dedicated 70 years to serving the American populace well.”
“They dismantled American workers’ opportunities. They took our jobs overseas,” Leavitt expressed.
She also informed CNN that Trump has initiated a “significant deregulation agenda” that “has saved Americans millions.” Leavitt emphasized that the president “unleashes the potential of the American energy sector,” asserting that the constrained energy sector had contributed to inflation during former President Joe Biden’s term.
Vice President JD Vance stated on Fox & Friends Thursday morning that inflation was criticized during Trump’s first term but instead fell to 1.5% until “a rough year under Biden’s administration.” Vance indicated that due to the “globalist economy,” the US “incurs substantial debt to consume products manufactured abroad.”
The American flag flies at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, February 24th, 2025. (ap photo/seth wenig, file)
“To clarify, we borrow funds from Chinese farmers and purchase their products,” Vance explained. “This approach will not foster economic success. It fails to encourage low expenses or job creation within the United States.”
Some nations affected by Trump’s tariffs are seeking discussions, while China remarks that there’s “no victor in the trade war.”
The Vice President accused the “Joe Biden Globalist Pathway” of leading the US to a $2 trillion “extinction” in peacetime debts, deficits, and manufacturing.
While addressing Wall Street’s backlash after Trump’s “liberation day” ceremony at the White House Rose Garden, Vance noted that “a few individuals are profiting from American jobs moving overseas, while American workers aren’t reaping the rewards,” and American firms “haven’t thrived amidst increasing overseas manufacturing competition.”
“They impose absurd tariffs and engage in various non-tariff activities, such as currency manipulation,” Vance added. “This is detrimental for Main Street in America.”
President Donald Trump is set to sign two executive orders at a prominent American event in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Washington Post via Demetrius Freeman/Getty Images)
Concerning worries that tariffs may escalate costs, Vance remarked that the administration is “making significant efforts to decrease prices,” which is resulting in “the largest deregulation in the nation’s history.”
“If tariffs are enacted, foreign products might be somewhat pricier, but domestic items are not,” stated Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to CBS News.
“For the first time ever, you will consider the Americans who actually manufacture the products, those who create these items and are employed in these plants,” he stated. “It’s time for us to prioritize caring for our country, not for others.”
Trump mentioned that his administration has secured a pledged investment of about $5 trillion, but Lutnick asserted to CBS that “people are about to start constructing factories now.”
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“This signals that construction activities are about to commence,” Rutnick assured, promising that the president’s project will build upon the 150,000 jobs previously added to the US economy. “It begins with hiring Americans immediately. You’ll witness plants being constructed and factories being renovated. All the transformations are already underway across the nation. You will witness job growth effective immediately.”
