President Trump is boasting about the wheeling and dealing he’s doing to cut deals on steep new tariffs. But for weeks, his aides have insisted that tariffs were not a bargaining chip.
President Trump is boasting about the wheeling and dealing he’s doing to cut deals on steep new tariffs that take effect on Wednesday. But for weeks, his own aides have insisted that tariffs were not a bargaining chip.
Trump has said he wants to see manufacturing return to the United States — the kind of big-dollar investments that businesses are reluctant to make unless there is certainty that policies are not about to suddenly shift. But he has now opened the door to talks with a long list of countries trying to strike their own deals for tariff relief.
“There can be permanent tariffs — and there can also be negotiations because there are things that we need beyond tariffs”, Trump told reporters this week.
The conflicting message is just the latest example of how hard it can be for Trump’s aides to try and sell his ever-evolving trade agenda. It has increased scrutiny on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who are tasked with explaining his plan to people on Wall Street and Main Street who have been spooked by the sharp downward market moves sparked by the tariff announcement.
Lutnick and Bessent brought Wall Street credentials to their jobs
Lutnick, the former CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and Bessent, a former hedge fund investor, were picked for their cabinet jobs because their experience provided some assurance to Wall Street that there were steady stewards at the helm.
But they have both taken hits to their credibility over the rollout of potentially trillions of dollars in new tariffs that have rocked stock markets and spread uncertainty across the globe, said Daniel Drezner, a former international economist at Treasury and a former Republican.
“What you’ve seen for the last two months, two plus months, is evidence that, in fact, Bessent is not in charge of foreign economic policy.
