
While answering questions at the end of his Cabinet meeting, President Donald Trump seemed to acknowledge the real impacts his trade war with China could have on Americans.
Trump has previously said that there would be disruptions, but for the first time, he acknowledged that many Americans might have to do with less as a result of the tariff standoff.
“They made $1 trillion with Biden, $1 trillion, even a $1.1 trillion, with Biden selling us stuff, much of it we don’t need. You know, somebody said, ‘Oh, the shelves are going to be open.’ Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls. You know, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally. But, we’re not talking about something that we have to go out of our way,” Trump said.
Trump argued that the result of the trade war will be worse for the Chinese, who rely on the U.S. as a market to sell their goods. Trump was asked whether he’d spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump said: “It’ll happen.”
Trump continued to insist that Americans don’t need many of the goods that are imported from China.
“They have ships that are loaded up with stuff, much of which, not all of it, but much of which we don’t need. And we have to make a fair deal. We’ve been ripped off by every country in the world. But China, I would say, is the leading, the leading one and the leading, candidate for the chief-ripper-offer,” Trump said.