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Donald Trump has reached peak of ‘not giving a f***’, says White House official: Report
US President Donald Trump's announcement of reciprocal tariffs has shocked the US and global markets, leading to fears of a recession.
United States President Donald Trump has taken upon himself to champion the reform of global trade in favour of the US, a supposed step towards which was the announcement of reciprocal tariffs made on April 2.
The tariffs have sent the US markets into a shock, which are now experiencing their worst crash since Covid pandemic. The economies around the world are also plummeting, posing risk of a potential recession and trade war.
The US President, however, seems determined to not bow to the criticism coming his way. This is the similar approach he reportedly used while making the harsh tariff decision.
Also read: Donald Trump says 'time to get rich' as Dow Jones crash sparks recession fears
A White House official told the Washington Post that President Trump has reached “the peak of just not giving a f--- anymore”. In an article that details behind the scenes of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ reciprocal tariffs announcement, the Post quoted a White House official familiar with Trump’s thinking as saying, “Bad news stories? Doesn’t give a f---. He’s going to do what he’s going to do. He’s going to do what he promised to do on the campaign trail.”
Very different from Trump’s 1st term
According to the report by the Washington Post, Donald Trump majorly surrounded himself with supposed yes-men who showed little to no resistance to his tariff plans. This, however, was not the case during Trump’s first term.
Trump’s top aides during his first term, which included then director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn and then treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, were successful in constraining the US President’s harsh stance on tariffs.
The report quoted a senior White House official as saying, “In the first term, everyone thought they were president.”
However, Trump faced almost no dissent this time around while bringing his trade and tariff overhaul to life. The senior officials involved in helping Trump to form policies around the new tariffs presented him with numerous options, but the privilege of the final nod lied with the President.
“In their recruiting process, they made sure it would only be people who were totally Trumpers, because in the first administration, there was a lot of trouble with people quitting, writing bad books, things like that…The people now have been confirmed as true Trumpers” said Wilbur Ross, commerce secretary of Trump’s first term, told the Washington Post.
