Amid mixed messaging from top White House officials, President Donald Trump was asked directly on Monday whether his sweeping tariffs are negotiable or here to stay.
“They can both be true,” Trump responded. “There can be permanent tariffs and there can also be negotiations because there are things that we need beyond tariffs.”
For days, from Trump on down, administration officials have offered conflicting statements on whether countries can do anything to save themselves from the tariffs, which include a universal 10% tariff implemented over the weekend and what they claimed were more targeted “reciprocal” tariffs to take effect on Wednesday.
On Monday alone, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shared he was tasked with negotiating with Japan while White House trade advisor Peter Navarro penned an editorial that the new policies are “not a negotiation.”
Bessent posted on social media that following a “very constructive phone discussion” with Japanese officials, Trump instructed him and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to “open negotiations to implement the President’s vision for the new Golden Age of Global Trade.”
Navarro wrote in the Financial Times that Trump wouldn’t be backing down from his “reciprocal” tariffs on nations the administration’s deemed the worst offenders in trade relations.
“This is about fairness, and no one can argue with that. This is not a negotiation,” Navarro wrote. “For the US, it is a national emergency triggered by trade deficits caused by a rigged system. President Trump is always willing to listen. But to those world leaders who, after decades of cheating, are suddenly offering to lower tariffs — know this: that’s just the beginning.”
When Trump announced the sweeping tariffs in the White House Rose Garden, he justified them as a response to a “national emergency” caused by trade deficits and unfair practices with global partners.
Since then, markets at home and abroad slumped. Foreign leaders recoiled, with some — like China — taking retaliatory action against the United States. Economists increased their odds of a recession this year.
Officials were pressed to justify the action on Sunday morning news shows, where again the confused messaging was apparent. Trump spent the weekend golfing as fallout from his tariff policy continued.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, on the CBS News program “Face the Nation,” said tariffs were going to “stay in place for days and weeks” and that “this is the policy.”
Meanwhile, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, on ABC News’ “This Week,” boasted that 50 countries had reached out to the White House to negotiate tariffs.
Trump on Monday said they’re open to “fair deals” with foreign leaders that put “America first” — but that tariffs would stay in place in the meantime.
“We’re going to get fair deals and good deals with every country. And if we don’t, we’re going to have nothing to do with them. They’re not going to be allowed to participate in the United States,” he said.
ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked Trump on Monday if he’d be open to a pause in tariffs to allow for negotiation.
“Well, we’re not looking at that,” Trump responded. “We have many, many, countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us, and they’re going to be fair deals. And in certain cases, they’re going to be paying substantial tariffs.”
A rumor of a possible 90-day tariff pause that circulated on Monday caused stocks to briefly spike into green territory before going back into the red when the White House denied the report.
Trump said in the Oval Office that he doesn’t “mind going through it,” seemingly a nod to the criticism and volatility of the market because he believes it’s worth it at the end of the day.
“So, it’s got to be very interesting,” he said. “It’s the only chance our country will have to reset the table because no other president would be willing to do what I’m doing or to even go through it. Now, I don’t mind going through it because I see a beautiful picture at the end.”
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
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