California Gov. Gavin Newsom couldn’t help himself after Donald Trump claimed—in all seriousness—that he “saved millions of lives” by imposing tariffs.
Trump made the bizarre boast during a Fox News phone interview with Sean Hannity, touting his use of trade wars as a kind of global peace strategy.
Newsom, who has positioned himself as one of Trump’s most visible Democratic critics ahead of the 2028 election cycle, has repeatedly mocked Trump’s self-congratulatory foreign policy claims.
“I think we shocked everybody by a lot with the tariffs and all of that,” Trump told Hannity. “But you know, having the ability to deal with trade, having the ability to use tariffs to help me make a point, the tariffs have brought peace to the world.”
The president then doubled down, insisting his trade policies were nothing short of humanitarian. “I’ve saved millions of lives using tariffs,” he said. “So if for any reason the court ruled against, and you know on the legal merits, we should be absolutely entitled.”
Newsom wasn’t buying it. The Democratic governor reposted a clip of the interview to X, responding simply, “hahahahahahahahaha.”
Trump’s comments came as he attempted to link his economic policies to his latest foreign policy boast—a purported “peace plan” between Israel and Hamas.
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after the Fox appearance. “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.”
He went on to call it a “GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America,” and thanked mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey for their help. “BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!” he added.
Many of the tariffs were imposed unilaterally by the executive branch—without express congressional authorization—under emergency authority that’s meant for rare, crisis-level use.
Last month, the Supreme Court announced that it will hear a case in November addressing whether those tariff actions exceed the president’s statutory authority.
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