I guess he's kind of leaving us guessing here though
it seems pretty clear he does not agree with the
posts. That's right. I think what President Trump
is trying to do is two main things is it
doubled down on the fact that tariffs are going to
be core to his administration and that's taking hold just
in a couple of weeks, and also that he
is anticipating that tariffs will not only be a negotiating
tool as they were for him the first time around
, but also a revenue raiser. You know,
on the campaign trail, he promoted or floated a
number of tax deductions, credits, such as taxes
on tips, and that tariffs would be the way
to pay for those. So he wants to make
sure that people know that he considers tariffs one of
his core governing models, but also that that's how
he's going to deliver for the people across the country
that he promised many, many of those things too
. As we kept hearing though, Peggy, and
it's great to have you on with us today,
this was an opening salvo we heard from Trump supporters
that it was the beginning of a negotiation that maybe
these tariffs would not be across the board. So
it sounds to me like this reporting is kind of
in line with what we've heard. Is Donald Trump
just concerned about presenting this idea that he's not making
good on promises before he's sworn into office? Well
, I think, you know, campaign promises are
suspended in time, and the campaign is now transitioning
towards governing, but also there was some vagueness into
the proposals even on the campaign trail. He came
out of the gate saying 10% to 20% across the
board, which would have been different than his first
administration and what they're saying, he's saying they're not
paring back, but also 60% on China, on
Certain goods, and then early on after his election
, he talked about tariffs on Mexico and Canada coming
right out of the gate. So, I think
, again, they are trying to signal through their
comments today that tariffs are going to be core to
the way that they govern, and in two main
ways. One, in terms of how they can
bring other countries to the table, but also in
terms of how they can raise revenue to pay for
of the promises that they've made. One last point
I'll make is that they are going to be taking
over at a time that inflation is still an issue
for many, many Americans and for the Fed,
which we cover so much at Bloomberg. And so
they are going to have to deal with what many
economists say will be a challenge for tariffs, and
that is how do you balance putting tariffs on with
potentially not causing higher inflation. Well, Peggy,
you just mentioned Canada, of course we also got
the news today that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is
resigning. How is that related to trade and the
incoming relationship with the Trump administration? Well, our
Canadian colleagues have obviously been covering this story for the
last several months as it's become more dramatic by the
day. But I do think, you know,
Trump even just today tweeted about Canada being the 51st
state, so he has not let up in terms
of pointing at Canada and our relations. but also
Trudeau and his deputies have clearly lost faith in each
other, and they are now trying to posture for
who could be best in terms of not only providing
for Canada but also negotiating and dealing with its neighbor
under the power of Trump.