Trump blasts 'nasty' question from Oval Office reporter on whether he always 'chickens out' on tariffs
President Donald Trump ripped a reporter in the Oval Office Wednesday for asking a "nasty question" about his tariff deals.
"Mr. President, Wall Street analysts have coined a new term called the TACO trade. They're saying, 'Trump Always Chickens Out' - on your tariff threats. And that's why markets are higher this week. What's your response to that?" CNBC White House correspondent Megan Casella asked during a brief gaggle.
"Oh, isn't that nice. 'Chicken out.' I've never heard that," Trump responded. "You mean because I reduced China from 145% that I set down to 100 and then down to another number? I said, 'You have to open your whole country.'"
He went on, "And because I gave the European Union a 50% tariff? And they called up, and they said, 'Please, let's meet right now.' And I said, 'Okay, I'll give you until June.' I actually asked them, I said, 'What's the date?' Because they weren't willing to meet. And after I did what I did, they said, 'We'll meet anytime you want.' And we have an end date of July 9. You call that chickening out? Because we have $14 trillion now invested, committed to investing when Biden didn't have practically anything."
Trump contrasted the situation with the Biden administration, saying the U.S. was "stone-cold dead" six months ago.
"We had a dead country. We had a country people didn't think was going to survive. And you ask a nasty question like that? It's called negotiation," Trump said.
Trump said lowering the number was part of an ongoing "negotiation" with China and attacked the question.
"Don't ever say what you said. That's a nasty question. To me, that's the nastiest question," Trump said before calling another reporter.
Casella later reported on the event while appearing on CNBC's "The Exchange."
"He did not like this question, I can tell you," Casella said.
She also joked that the "nasty" jab was a "badge of honor" of sorts.
After announcing several widespread tariffs in April, the Trump administration announced a pause on all tariffs except China until July to negotiate better deals.
Earlier this month, Trump agreed to a temporary reduction of China's tariff rates from 145% to approximately 30% as negotiations continued.
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