Trump says he’s not backing down on tariffs, calls them ‘medicine’ as markets reel

WEST PALM BEACH Fla AP President Donald Trump reported Sunday that he won t back down on his sweeping tariffs on imports from bulk of the world unless countries even out their contract with the U S digging in on his plans to implement the taxes that have sent financial markets reeling raised fears of a recession and upended the global trading system Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One Trump commented he didn t want global markets to fall but also that he wasn t concerned about the massive sell-off either adding sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something His comments came as global financial markets appeared on track to continue sharp declines once trading resumes Monday and after Trump s aides sought to soothe territory concerns by saying more than nations had reached out about launching negotiations to lift the tariffs I spoke to a lot of leaders European Asian from all over the world Trump disclosed They re dying to make a deal And I noted we re not going to have deficits with your country We re not going to do that because to me a deficit is a loss We re going to have surpluses or at worst going to be current even The higher rates are set to be collected beginning Wednesday ushering in a new era of economic uncertainty with no clear end in sight Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted unfair exchange practices are not the kind of thing you can negotiate away in days or weeks The United States he revealed must see what the countries offer and whether it s believable Trump who spent the weekend in Florida playing golf posted online that WE WILL WIN HANG TOUGH it won t be easy His Cabinet members and economic advisers were out in force Sunday defending the tariffs and downplaying the consequences for the global financial system There doesn t have to be a recession Who knows how the domain is going to react in a day in a week Bessent reported What we are looking at is building the long-term economic fundamentals for prosperity U S stock futures dropped on Sunday evening as the tariffs continued to roil the markets Dow Jones Industrial Average and S P futures fell nearly while Nasdaq futures were down nearly Even the price of bitcoin which held relatively stable last week fell nearly Sunday Trump s tariff blitz informed April fulfilled a key campaign promise as he acted without Congress to redraw the rules of global pact It was a move decades in the making for Trump who has long denounced foreign transaction deals as unfair to the U S He is gambling that voters will be willing to endure higher prices for everyday items to enact his economic vision Countries are scrambling to figure out how to respond to the tariffs with China and others retaliating briskly Top White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett acknowledged that other countries are angry and retaliating and he reported by the way coming to the table He cited the Office of the U S Agreement Representative as reporting that more than nations had reached out to the White House to begin talks Adding to the turmoil the new tariffs are hitting American allies and adversaries alike including Israel which is facing a tariff Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit the White House and speak at a press conference with Trump on Monday with his office saying the tariffs would be a point of discussion with Trump along with the war in Gaza and other issues Another American ally Vietnam a major manufacturing center for clothing has also been in touch with the administration about the tariffs Trump mentioned Vietnam s leader mentioned in a telephone call that his country wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the U S And a key European partner Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni disclosed she disagreed with Trump s move but was ready to deploy all the tools negotiating and economic necessary to aid our businesses and our sectors that may be penalized Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made clear there was no postponing tariffs that are days away The tariffs are coming Of lesson they are he declared adding that Trump needed to reset global transaction But he committed only to having them definitely remain for days and weeks In Congress where Trump s Republican Party has long championed free commerce the tariff regiment has been met with applause but also critical unease Several Republican senators have already signed onto a new bipartisan bill that would require presidents to justify new tariffs to Congress Lawmakers would then have to approve the tariffs within days or they would expire Nebraska GOP Rep Don Bacon stated Sunday that he would introduce a House version of the bill saying that Congress necessities to restores its powers over tariffs We gave certain of that power to the executive branch I think in hindsight that was a mistake reported Bacon adding that getting a measure passed would be challenging unless the financial markets continue to react negatively and other indicators such as inflation and unemployment shift Wyoming s John Barrasso the No member of the Senate s GOP leadership disclosed Trump is doing what he has every right to do But he acknowledged there is concern and there s concern across the country People are watching the markets There ll be a discussion in the Senate Barrasso disclosed of the tariffs We ll see which way the discussion goes Trump s establishment cost-cutting guru billionaire businessman Elon Musk had been relatively silent on Trump s tariffs but mentioned at a weekend event in Italy that he would like to see the U S and Europe move to a zero-tariff situation The comment from the Tesla owner who leads Trump s Department of Administration Efficiency drew a rebuke from White House pact adviser Peter Navarro Elon when he is on his DOGE lane is great But we understand what s going on here We just have to understand Elon sells cars Navarro disclosed He added He s purely protecting his own interest as any business person would do Trump indicated he disagreed with Musk saying Sunday of the European Union They want to talk but there s no talk unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis Lawrence Summers an economist who was treasury secretary under Democratic President Bill Clinton reported Trump and his economic unit are sending contradictory messages if they say they are interested in reviving manufacturing while still being open to negotiating with transaction partners If other countries eliminate their tariffs and the U S does too he declared it s just making a deal then we don t raise any revenue nor do we get any businesses to relocate to the United States If it s a permanent revenue source and trying to get businesses to relocate to the United States then we re going to have these tariffs permanently So the president can t have it both options Bessent was on NBC s Meet the Press Hassett and Summers appeared on ABC s This Week Lutnick and Barrasso were on CBS Face the Nation and Navarro was interviewed on Fox News Channel s Sunday Morning Futures