On Tuesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt repeated one of the White House’s favorite talking points about President Donald Trump’s trade war. After reporters questioned Leavitt about his repeated promises on the campaign trail to lower taxes for everyday Americans, the press secretary said the president is “not implementing tax hikes.” She told reporters Trump’s tariffs were a “tax hike on foreign countries” and a “tax cut for the American people.”
Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma contradicted the press secretary’s claim. “Tariffs is a tax, and it will be passed on consumers,” Mullin told CNN.
Leavitt is either ignorant about how tariffs work or purposely dishonest — either way, imposing them still leads the United States down the same dangerous economic path. Almost every economist will tell you that tariffs make nations less prosperous. During Trump’s first term, studies showed that his tariffs hurt consumers. This time around, his proposals are much more far-reaching, which means potentially even larger negative economic impacts for everyday Americans.
But don’t take my word for it. On Wednesday, Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma contradicted the press secretary’s claim. “Tariffs is a tax, and it will be passed on consumers,” Mullin told CNN. Mullin then said this is a fact the president is well aware of, “something that the president, who is a businessperson, understands that completely.”
The Trump administration’s repeated public denial of basic economics isn’t the only way the White House is trying to spin the president’s trade war. During Wednesday’s briefing, Leavitt again deflected blame over the economy on former President Joe Biden. But the facts tell a different story: Trump inherited a historically strong economy.
So no matter what the White House tries to say, this is not Biden’s fault. The previous president handed Trump a strong post-pandemic economy that was the envy of the world and now, the United States is the embarrassment of the world. Trump owns that — and he owns the disastrous impact his trade war will have on American consumers, as does every other Republican who touches his administration.
Allison Detzel contributed.
