Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / David Smith: Washington Bureau Chief for the Guardian on the reaction to Donald Trump's tariffs

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David Smith: Washington Bureau Chief for the Guardian on the reaction to Donald Trump's tariffs · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The world has been continuing to react to Trump's at
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  Speaker 1: tariff's announcements. Over the weekend, the stock market in America
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  Speaker 1: was a sad spectacle, as I've told you a really Thursday. Friday,
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  Speaker 1: the smp fel ten point five percent. Remarkably, New Zealand
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  Speaker 1: did quite well, falling zero point five percent. Experts warned
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  Speaker 1: the tariffs could push up prices for consumers. Donald Trump
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  Speaker 1: is urging the United States to hang tough because it's
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  Speaker 1: not pleasant for them right now. Washington Bureau chief for
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  Speaker 1: The Guardian is David Smith, and David Smith joins me. Now,
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  Speaker 1: goodbring to Youllie, talk us through the reaction in the
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  Speaker 1: United States. People are protesting and tell us about hands off.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. I think people are still bewildered and somewhat horrified
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  Speaker 2: for the most part by these tasks, and even loyalist
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  Speaker 2: to Donald Trump and the Republican Party are struggling to
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  Speaker 2: deal with it, and some of them are a critical
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  Speaker 2: or even floating legislation to curtail Pump's power over tariff.
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  Speaker 2: Larry Summer, the former Treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, describes
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  Speaker 2: this as the greatest self inflicted wound on the American
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  Speaker 2: economy in history. And as you mentioned, the stock market,
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  Speaker 2: they're six trillion dollars wiped off in just a couple
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  Speaker 2: of days last week. And yes, that helped fuel processes
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  Speaker 2: that were going to happen already. Yesterday and on Saturday,
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  Speaker 2: they had the hands off protests in New York, Washington,
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  Speaker 2: pities all across America, millions of people taking to the
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  Speaker 2: streets to demonstrate against Donald Trump and Elon Musk and
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  Speaker 2: all they've done so far. And these process seemed peaceful, determined.
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  Speaker 2: I think there's a general feeling or at least a
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  Speaker 2: hope that you know, this was the week when the
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  Speaker 2: resistance to Trump really started to wake up after weeks
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  Speaker 2: of being somewhat somewhat mused.
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  Speaker 1: But here's the thing. Donald Trump campaigned on this, Donald
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  Speaker 1: Trump got a popular mandate to do this, and so
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  Speaker 1: Donald Trump went and did this, So they can't be surprised.
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  Speaker 1: And Donald Trump said all along it's going to be tough,
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  Speaker 1: and he once again has repeated that, urging people to
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  Speaker 1: hang tough. So is there any faith that the markets
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  Speaker 1: will change and that this will work eventually?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's only true. Trump did say on the campaign
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  Speaker 2: trail he would impose tariff. And I think maybe even
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  Speaker 2: some of his own supporters wondered if it was one
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  Speaker 2: of those moments where Trump says one thing to sound
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  Speaker 2: tough but doesn't actually follow through. And I'm sure many
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  Speaker 2: Republicans were hoping that. But this is a promise he
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  Speaker 2: has kept. And you know, today on the Sunday morning
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  Speaker 2: TV shows, which always a big part of the political diet,
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  Speaker 2: You've heard contradictory messages from Trump's cabinet members where this
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  Speaker 2: is going, some saying he's absolutely determined to stick with
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  Speaker 2: it come what may. It's a real core belief of
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  Speaker 2: Donald Trump going about the eighties that America is being
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  Speaker 2: ripped off and that tariffs are the solution, but other
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  Speaker 2: cabinet members suggesting perhaps they're useful leverage, they're a bargaining tool.
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  Speaker 2: In the coming weeks, there'll be lots of foreign leaders
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  Speaker 2: calling to maybe negotiate side deals and give Trump some
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  Speaker 2: some room to back away from these tariffs. And what
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  Speaker 2: we don't know is whether the decline of the stock
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  Speaker 2: market will force his hand. In the past, Trump seems
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  Speaker 2: to care a lot about the stock market. Maybe it will,
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  Speaker 2: maybe it will get through to him eventually, But you know,
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  Speaker 2: still a great deal of uncertainty here about where this
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  Speaker 2: is going. And I think you know, all eyes again
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  Speaker 2: will be on the market this this coming week to
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  Speaker 2: see is this there's nose dives continues and becomes something
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  Speaker 2: like a crash or a recession.
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  Speaker 1: Good stuff. David Smith from the Washington Bureau of the Guardian.
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  Speaker 2: For more from Earlily Edition with Ryan Bridge.
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• 3:57
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