On Sunday morning, President Donald Trump took part in a wide-ranging interview with NBC News’ “Meet The Press” and host Kristen Welker.
During a recent sit-down, my colleague Bob Hoge discussed the Trump administration’s tariffs policies, specifically focusing on China and whether the country is taking adequate steps to ultimately reduce these tariffs.
Hoge wrote:
The commander in chief also defended his tariffs, which he said are forcing China to negotiate in good faith and stop taking advantage of us:
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Further elaborating on this topic, President Trump, in an interview with Welker at Mar-a-Lago, expressed his observations that China seems to be showing some willingness to soften their stance on tariffs, partly due to their struggling economy.
Trump emphasized the importance of not allowing China to amass significant wealth through trade that could be used to bolster their military capabilities, suggesting that such resources could be better utilized to strengthen the United States’ relationships with other nations.
Speaking generally about tariffs and industries that want access to American consumers, he explained when pressed that companies are lining up to swap out many of their manufacturing facilities to our shores already. As sources told Reuters:
The Chinese government has assembled a list of American products that would be exempt from its 125% tariffs on U.S. goods, Reuters reported last week. Beijing already has exemptions for some U.S. pharmaceuticals, microchips and aircraft engines.
Pres. Trump said he’s optimistic and “flexible” about working with companies on tariffs:
He also delved more into his thinking on the use of tariffs, explaining that he don’t see them as a “tax”:
.@POTUS: “I think what is a great misnomer is the word ‘tariff,’ in many cases — I don’t view it as a tax, I view it as an incentive for people to come into the United States and build plants, factories, offices.” pic.twitter.com/E0HUjeMViZ
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 4, 2025
There will likely be more stories at RedState about what the president said to NBC News, so stay tuned for additional coverage in the coming hours. Fascinating stuff is on the way.
You can watch the full interview below, courtesy of NBC News:
