President Donald Trump has “no idea what he’s talking about” and his tariffs are a form of “economic illiteracy,” according to one of his former top advisers.
John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser during his first term before becoming a fierce critic of the president’s agenda, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday night that the administration’s obsession with tariffs would not only weaken the U.S. but strengthen rivals like China.
When asked by Cooper if China would “blink” first and try to cut a deal with Trump from a strategic perspective, Bolton replied: “It certainly doesn’t look like it, but what Trump is doing is a huge opportunity for China worldwide.
“These tariffs are a form of economic illiteracy. Trump has no idea really what he’s talking about. He doesn’t understand how tariffs work. He has said as recently as a few days ago he views trade surpluses and deficits as like a profit and loss statement, which they certainly are not.
“So what he’s doing has put us in a very vulnerable position and probably in the worst position possible to go after the real country problem in the international trading system, which is China. Instead of taking on the country that’s stolen our intellectual property for decades, among other things, by gathering our allies together, all of whom also suffer from China’s intellectual property theft and engaging in concerted action, we’re at war with our largest trading partners while we’re about to go to war with China as well.
“It simply makes no sense and it’s just sad and depressing that more Republicans haven’t stood up and said that.
“This is illiteracy,” he added.
Bolton’s remarks come as Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs on more than 60 countries went into effect at midnight, including a 104 percent increase on imports to the U.S. from China. Trump increased the Chinese tariff by an additional 34 percent this week after Beijing refused to back down from its promise to impose retaliatory tariffs of its own, and the president signed an executive order tripling tariffs on goods worth less than $800 from China, CNN reports.
Just hours before the tariffs came into force, Trump bragged that countries desperate to make a deal are “calling us up, kissing my a–,” and said that after years of being “ripped off” in the global markets, it is “our turn to do the rippin’.”
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