President Donald Trump shook off concerns about a tariff-induced stock market plunges on Thursday, saying his plan to shake up global trade is "going very well.
“It was an operation like when a patient gets operated on. It’s a big thing. I said this would exactly be the way it is,” Trump said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced its worst single day since March 2020 after Trump announced late on Wednesday that the United States would place tariffs on all imports.
"The markets are going to boom. The stock is going to boom. The country is going to boom," he said.
Despite Trump’s reassurances, not all Republicans are sold on the scheme. The Senate voted on Wednesday to reject the previously announced 25% tariff on Canada, with four Republicans – including Kentucky Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul – joining Democrats to send a reversal measure to the House.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 7 in 10 voters expected prices to shoot up following Trump’s tariff scheme and a majority of voters felt that the tariffs would do more harm than good.
Inside Trump’s administration, the outlook is a little rosier. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNN on Thursday that the market-rattling scheme was necessary to “drive growth.”
“That’s a whole lotta growth. You’re gonna get that starting in the fourth quarter,” Lutnick said.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins also defended the tariffs in a Thursday appearance on Fox Business.
“Certainly, the economy will be adjusting,” Rollins said. “We are really excited, and very grateful for President Trump’s leadership in being able to be bold.”
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