Evan Vucci, Associated PressPresident Trump gestures during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House, April 2, 2025, in Washington.
President Trump sought to project calm Wednesday as the fallout from his aggressive tariffs on dozens of countries escalated and sparked retaliation.
“BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
In a subsequent post, Trump argued it was a “great time to buy!!!”
Trump’s comments came hours after his administration’s “reciprocal” tariffs went into effect. Trump imposed a 10 percent baseline tariffs on all foreign goods, as well as substantially higher tariffs on imports from dozens of countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the European Union and others.
The White House has targeted China with an even higher rate after Beijing threatened retaliation. China earlier Wednesday announced it was escalating its response and putting an 84 percent tariff on U.S. goods.
The European Union also signaled it was moving forward with retaliatory tariffs against steel and aluminum duties Trump had imposed in recent weeks, targeting specific U.S. goods.
The stock market was down at the open Wednesday, marking yet another day of volatility amid Trump’s trade war.
The president and top aides have said more than 70 countries are looking to negotiate deals in light of the tariffs, but Trump has been unclear about what it will take for countries to get the tariffs lowered or what the timeline would be for an agreement.
Tags
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
