Trump’s Trade War Lies Explained in 10 Minutes and 39 Seconds

Summary

Summary of Podcast Episode: "Trump’s Trade War Lies Explained in 10 Minutes and 39 Seconds"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Bulwark Takes
• Host/Author: The Bulwark
• Episode: Trump’s Trade War Lies Explained in 10 Minutes and 39 Seconds
• Release Date: April 23, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of Bulwark Takes, Will Salatan delves into the recent developments surrounding former President Donald Trump's trade policies, specifically focusing on the imposition and subsequent suspension of tariffs. Drawing parallels to George Orwell's 1984, Salatan argues that the current administration is attempting to rewrite history and gaslight the public regarding their true intentions behind the trade war.

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Trump's Tariff Announcement and Initial Claims

The episode begins with Salatan referencing Orwell's depiction of an authoritarian regime's manipulation of truth:

"That was Orwell's illustration of how an authoritarian government can rewrite the past. And that's also how this authoritarian government, the one that Donald Trump is building in the United States, is trying to rewrite our past."
(00:11)

On April 2, Trump announced significant tariffs globally, asserting:

"Come build factories in the United States because I'll protect you with tariffs. And those tariffs, he said, will never change."
(00:11)

These tariffs, Trump claimed, were a steadfast measure to bolster American manufacturing and protect domestic industries.

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Reversal of Tariffs and Government's Response

Contrary to Trump's initial assurances, economic repercussions soon followed:

"Trump's global trade war was a really bad idea. It was going to crash the economy."
(00:27)

As markets reacted negatively, rumors spread about a potential 90-day pause on tariffs. Despite earlier proclamations, Trump eventually conceded:

"I was authorizing a 90 day pause so other countries could negotiate new trade deals with the United States."
(01:45)

This reversal occurred on April 9, approximately a week after the initial announcement, leading to confusion about the administration's true intentions.

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Discrepancies Between Officials' Statements and Actions

The episode highlights the inconsistencies between official statements and actual events. Initially, officials like the White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt firmly denied any consideration of pausing tariffs:

"It is quote, unquote, fake news that the White House is considering a 90 day pause."
(04:40)

However, just a day before the suspension, Levitt reiterated that no delays or extensions were being considered:

"The president was asked and answered this yesterday. He said he's not considering an extension or delay."
(05:12)

This stark contrast between Levitt's statements on April 7 and the eventual suspension on April 9 underscores the narrative of gaslighting.

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The Role of Key Officials: Scott Besant, Howard Lutnick, Peter Navarro

Salatan scrutinizes the actions of several Trump advisors who contradicted their previous statements:

1. Scott Besant (Treasury Secretary):

   • April 8: Claimed the tariff pause was part of Trump's long-term strategy.

     "We saw the successful negotiating strategy that President Trump implemented a week ago today."
     (02:50)

   • Contradiction: Reports indicate Besant and others actively worked to persuade Trump to suspend the tariffs just minutes before the public announcement, revealing that the pause was not premeditated.

2. Howard Lutnick (Commerce Secretary):

   • April 3: Asserted that tariffs were non-negotiable and a national emergency.

     "This is not a negotiation. This is a national emergency."
     (04:22)

   • April 9: After suspending tariffs, Lutnick portrayed Trump as unwavering.

     "He announced Liberation Day and he did not bend."
     (06:16)

   • Contradiction: Lutnick's shift from unequivocal support to endorsing the tariff pause contradicts his earlier stance.

3. Peter Navarro (Trade Advisor):

   • April 3: Emphasized that the tariff imposition was not open for negotiation.

     "This is not a negotiation. This is a national emergency."
     (08:38)

   • April 9: Post-suspension, Navarro claimed the pause aligned with the original strategy.

     "This negotiation went exactly the way we had hoped it would go."
     (09:18)

   • Contradiction: Navarro's initial resistance to any negotiation starkly contrasts with subsequent acceptance of the tariff pause.

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Analysis of Government's Narrative and Gaslighting Claims

Salatan argues that the swift and contradictory shifts in official statements are indicative of a broader strategy to manipulate public perception. By asserting that the tariff suspension was part of an overarching plan, officials attempt to maintain the façade of a consistent and unaltered strategy, despite evidence to the contrary.

This aligns with Orwellian tactics, where the past is constantly rewritten to fit the current narrative, dissociating any deviations from the supposed original plan.

"They'll say anything. They'll literally pick up a script and read out the new party line, and they'll tell you that the old party line never existed, just like 1984."
(09:33)

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Conclusion

In this episode, Will Salatan presents a critical examination of the Trump administration's handling of tariffs, suggesting a deliberate effort to deceive the public and rewrite historical actions. By highlighting inconsistencies among key officials and drawing parallels to Orwellian propaganda, Salatan underscores the dangers of unchecked power and the manipulation of truth in contemporary politics.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Will Salatan (00:11):
  "That was Orwell's illustration of how an authoritarian government can rewrite the past. And that's also how this authoritarian government, the one that Donald Trump is building in the United States, is trying to rewrite our past."

• Trump Announcement (00:11):
  "Come build factories in the United States because I'll protect you with tariffs. And those tariffs, he said, will never change."

• Scott Besant (02:50):
  "We saw the successful negotiating strategy that President Trump implemented a week ago today."

• Caroline Levitt (04:40):
  "It is quote, unquote, fake news that the White House is considering a 90 day pause."

• Howard Lutnick (05:33):
  "These countries wisely heeded President Trump's warning not to retaliate. And as a result, they were rewarded with a 90 day pause and substantially lower reciprocal tariff rates."

• Peter Navarro (09:18):
  "This negotiation went exactly the way we had hoped it would go."

---

This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the podcast episode, detailing the sequence of events, highlighting contradictions among officials, and emphasizing the central argument of government-induced gaslighting surrounding Trump's trade policies.

Transcript

[Will Salatan]

Hey, it's Will Salatan from the Bulwark. Remember this line from 1984?

[Caroline Levitt]

Oceania was at war with Eurasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia.

[Will Salatan]

That was Orwell's illustration of how an authoritarian government can rewrite the past. And that's also how this authoritarian government, the one that Donald Trump is building in the United States, is trying to rewrite our past. What I want to show you today is what actually happened this month in the United States and how our government is gaslighting us about what they did. On April 2, Trump announced that he would impose tariffs, really big tariffs all over the world. Here's what he told corporate investors on April 4. He said, Come build factories in the United States because I'll protect you with tariffs. And those tariffs, he said, will never change. And in case the investors had any doubt, Trump posted another message later that day. He said the tariffs were here to stay, but there was a problem. It turned out that Trump's global trade war was a really bad idea. It was going to crash the economy. So people started bailing out of the stock market and the bond market. And to stop the bleeding, a rumor went around that maybe Trump would pause the tariffs for 90 days. But Trump said no way. He said he wasn't even considering that idea.

[Peter Navarro]

Well, we're not looking at that.

[Will Salatan]

But then he did. On April 9, a week after he announced the tariffs, he backed off on Truth Social. He wrote that he was authorizing a 90 day pause so other countries could negotiate new trade deals with the United States. In fact, Trump claimed, contrary to what he'd said two days earlier, that he'd been talking about the idea of a pause with his advisors for some time.

[Peter Navarro]

But this was something certainly we've been talking about for a period of time, and we decided to pull the trigger.

[Will Salatan]

Now, you might ask, at what point between April 2, when he announced the tariffs and April 9, when he suspended them, did Trump change his mind? And the answer from our government was, he never changed. They said this was the plan all along. That's what the Treasury Secretary, Scott Besant, told reporters at the White House immediately after Trump hit the pause button.

[Scott Besant]

And we saw the successful negotiating strategy that President Trump implemented a week ago today. And all this was, again, this was driven by the President's strategy. He and I had a long talk on Sunday, and this was his strategy all along.

[Will Salatan]

You know what's hilarious about that clip? That guy, Scott Besant. We now know from the Wall Street Journal that Besant and another guy had to Sneak in to see Trump not a week earlier, like he's telling you, but that day to get Trump to drop the tariffs. In fact, Besant did that maneuver backstage, literally minutes before he came out and gave that speech. You just saw about how this was Trump's plan all along. And it wasn't just Bessant. All of Trump's flunkies went on TV and claimed that the paws had been in the works from the beginning. Here's Kevin Hassett, another Trump advisor.

[Scott Besant]

When the president decided to do the pause that we had been talking about.

[Will Salatan]

All along, all along, they want you to believe that Trump had a brilliant plan to announce the tariffs and and then pause them to negotiate trade deals with each country. That's a lie. And I'm going to show you the facts. Let's start with the White House press secretary, Caroline Levitt. Here she is On CNN on April 3, the day after the tariffs were announced.

[Caroline Levitt]

Is there any chance that the president.

[Will Salatan]

Will pull back on implementing these tariffs.

[Howard Lutnick]

Before they go into effect this weekend? The president made it clear yesterday this is not a negotiation. This is a national emergency.

[Will Salatan]

And then here's what Levitt said four days later on April 7, according to CNBC.

[Caroline Levitt]

Spoke to Caroline Levitt, the White House press secretary, on the phone just a short time ago and she tells me it is quote, unquote, fake news that the White House is considering a 90 day pause.

[Will Salatan]

And here's Levitt again at a White house briefing on April 8.

[Kevin Hassett]

It's clear the president has gotten the world's attention with these tariffs. Is there, is he considering at all potential, really holding off on imposing some of them before the deadline or maybe later, you know, reversing them because he's having these negotiations and having these good talks with other leaders.

[Howard Lutnick]

The president was asked and answered this yesterday. He said he's not considering an extension or delay.

[Will Salatan]

That was the day before Trump did exactly what Levitt said he wouldn't do. And at her next briefing, after Trump hit the pause button, Levitt showed up literally with a new script. Here she is reading from it.

[Howard Lutnick]

And these countries wisely heeded President Trump's warning not to retaliate. And as a result, they were rewarded with a 90 day pause and substantially lower reciprocal tariff rates.

[Will Salatan]

So that's the press secretary. Now let me show you the Commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick. Here he is on April 3, the day after Trump announced his tariffs on what he called Liberation Day.

[Unnamed Reporter]

At what point would the administration consider pulling back on tariffs, especially on those 10% across the board Tariffs, where is the room for negotiation?

I don't think there's any chance they're going to, that President Trump's going to back off his tariffs.

[Will Salatan]

And then here's Lutnick three days later on Face the Nation.

[Kevin Hassett]

Is that correct or is the president.

[Caroline Levitt]

Considering postponing implementation to negotiate?

[Unnamed Reporter]

There is no postponing. They are definitely going to stay in place for days and weeks. That is sort of obvious.

[Will Salatan]

No negotiations, no pause. The tariffs will stay in place for weeks. So what did Lutnick say after Trump reversed himself three days later? He claimed that, in fact, Trump had not changed. Lutnick's argument was that even though Trump had dropped all his tariffs from numbers like 50%, 80% and 99%, all, all the way down to 10%, that 10% meant that Trump had stood firm.

[Unnamed Reporter]

No, no, the reciprocal tariffs stay in place. They are 10% across the board on all the countries. Right. We, we paused on any numbers that are above 10%.

He announced liberation Day and he did not bend.

[Will Salatan]

He did not bend. Right. Did I mention that, that Lutnick was the other guy who went in with Besant to get Trump to drop the tariffs? And then he comes out and gives you this story about our stalwart president who did not bend. Lutnick is such a weasel that he can look you in the eye and tell you one thing one day and the exact opposite the next day. Check out what he told CNN on, on April 3rd.

[Unnamed Reporter]

He is willing to negotiate with these countries right now or if they decide.

To look, no talking doing. These countries have abused us and exploited us, as he said yesterday. They need to change their way.

Let me follow up.

See them change their ways. It's going to be a long time. Let's see what they do. Not talking. Talking is nonsense.

[Will Salatan]

No negotiating. Talking is nonsense. And then here's Lutnick six days later after Trump switched from tariffs to negotiating.

[Unnamed Reporter]

We have so many great countries who want to talk, who are willing to talk, who are finally, finally willing to make what we expect to be a fair deal for America. And we're really excited to talk to them.

[Will Salatan]

One more. Let me show you Trump's trade advisor, Peter Navarro. Here he is on Fox News the day the tariffs were announced.

[Peter Navarro]

This is not a negotiation, Jesse. This is a national emergency. So, no, this is not a negotiation. It's a national emergency.

[Will Salatan]

And then here he is the next day on cnbc.

[Kevin Hassett]

How negotiable are these tariffs? What does it take for countries to actually negotiate the tariffs that were just that were just announced yesterday.

[Peter Navarro]

Let me. Let me make this very clear. This is not a negotiation. This is not that.

[Kevin Hassett]

This is.

[Peter Navarro]

This is a national emergency.

[Will Salatan]

And then after Trump announced that, on second thought, it would be a negotiation, here's what Navarro told ABC News.

[Unnamed Reporter]

As you know, earlier this week. He said there would be no pause. What's ultimately the strategy here?

[Peter Navarro]

I think you missed it. It wasn't. Hence the pause. It's trust in Trump. This negotiation went exactly the way we had hoped it would go.

[Unnamed Reporter]

So is this all playing out today as you had anticipated?

[Peter Navarro]

Yes, exactly right.

[Will Salatan]

It all played out exactly the way Navarro expected, except for the fact that Navarro, according to the Wall Street Journal, is the guy who didn't want Trump to drop the tariffs. And he got totally blindsided by the other two guys, Besant and Lutnick. What a bunch of liars. These people. Lutnick, Levitt, Besant, Navarro, Hassett. They'll say anything. They'll literally pick up a script and read out the new party line, and they'll tell you that the old party line never existed, just like 1984. And that's why they're in these jobs. Trump hired these people precisely because they're willing to lie to you. They're willing to tell you that Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia. So don't tell me that 1984 can't happen here. It's happening now. See you next time.