In a recent exclusive interview with ABC News, former President Donald Trump doubled down on his contentious trade policies, maintaining that China will bear the burden of the tariffs and seeking to soothe concerns about potential economic fallout.
Speaking with ABC News anchor and Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran, Trump appeared intent on reassuring Americans despite warning them in a recent social media post to “hang tough” as new tariffs take hold. In the post, he acknowledged the challenges ahead, stating, “it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic.”
Moran pressed the former president on whether the American public should anticipate economic hardship. “You said that to the American people,” Moran noted. “Is that what Americans should expect? Some hard times?”
“I’ve said that during my campaign,” Trump responded. “Look, we won a campaign by a lot. We won all seven swing states. We won the popular vote by a lot. You know, we had a tremendous campaign. I said all of these things during my campaign. I said, ‘You’re gonna have a transition period.’”
He continued with a scathing critique of global trade practices that he believes have long disadvantaged the United States. “We’ve been ripped off by every country all over the world. They’re laughing at us,” Trump said. “They thought we were stupid people, and we were. And I said, ‘That’s not gonna happen. We’re not gonna to let that happen.’”
Moran followed up: “But hard times are ahead?”
“I don’t think so,” Trump said. “I think great times are ahead.”
The full interview is scheduled to air on ABC at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) and will also be available for streaming on ABC News Live, Disney+, and Hulu.
Despite Trump’s optimism, public sentiment appears less confident. A newly released ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll reveals that more than 70% of Americans believe the economy is struggling. A significant majority also view his tariffs as contributors to price inflation and anticipate a recession in the near term as a result of his economic strategy.
When Moran asked Trump to address voters who fear rising prices and market instability, the former president emphasized what he described as early economic gains from his administration.
“Look, since I came in gasoline is down, groceries are down, egg prices are down — many things are down, just about everything,” Trump claimed.
Economists, however, have repeatedly warned that tariffs on Chinese goods are likely to result in higher consumer prices. Trump, pushing back against this view, insisted that the financial hit would be absorbed by China. “They probably will eat those,” he said.
Moran pointed out the steep tariffs: “So 145% tariffs on China. And that is basically an embargo.”
“That’s good,” Trump replied. “They deserve it.”
When Moran noted the potential consequences — “It’ll raise prices on everything from electronics to clothing to building houses” — Trump was dismissive.
“You don’t know that,” he said. “You don’t know whether or not China’s gonna to eat it.”
“That’s mathematics,” Moran said.
“China probably will eat those tariffs,” Trump replied. “They were ripping us off like nobody’s ever ripped us off … They’re not doing that anymore.”
