Politics
Trump Aides Defend His Tariffs Amid Global Blowback
President Trump’s top aides raced to defend his expansive global tariffs on Sunday, downplaying the prospect that his new taxes on imports could cause a significant spike in prices or tip the U.S. economy into a painful recession.
As Mr. Trump departed Mar-a-Lago for another day of golfing at his club in Jupiter, Fla., his leading economic advisers dismissed the turmoil they have unleashed in financial markets around the world, insisting that the president’s trade war would ultimately improve the nation’s economic fortunes.
But they also sent another round of mixed signals over the extent to which Mr. Trump sees tariffs as a negotiating tool, even as many of his aides touted anew on Sunday that they had heard from foreign nations seeking to strike a deal.
“The tariffs are coming. Of course they are,” said Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Mr. Trump’s 10 percent base-line tariff on nearly every trading partner went into effect on Saturday morning. Another round of tariffs that aim to punish countries that run trade deficits with the United States will snap into place on Wednesday morning.
Kevin Hassett, the head of the White House National Economic Council, said that he did not expect to “see a big effect on the consumer in the U.S.,” even as he acknowledged in an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” that prices “might go up some” as a result of the tariffs.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed the steep declines in global markets last week as short-term, while emphasizing the need for an economic “adjustment process” in the United States. He added on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that there “doesn’t have to be a recession,” as the administration works toward “building the long-term economic fundamentals for prosperity.”
“We’re going to hold the course,” he said.
The reassurances come as Mr. Trump continues to strike a defiant tone over his tariffs in recent days. On Saturday, as the 10 percent levy went into effect, the president told his followers on Truth Social: “HANG TOUGH, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic.”
Mr. Trump has maintained that his tariffs can reset trade relationships that he sees as unfair and detrimental to American jobs and industries by reviving domestic manufacturing. He also wants the levies to raise new revenue to help pay for the costs of his economic agenda, including a package to cut corporate and individual taxes.
But his trade policies have provoked substantial, widespread blowback, leading even U.S. allies to condemn Washington.
Last week, China announced a slate of aggressive retaliatory measures that raised the odds of a persistent and economically damaging trade war. Other nations have sought to negotiate lower rates: Vietnam, facing a 46 percent tariff rate that would be among the highest faced by any U.S. trading partner, is seeking a 45-day delay and proposed dropping its own tariffs to zero.
Fanning out on the Sunday news show circuit, the president’s top aides responded to the fallout by boasting they had already heard from dozens of countries that wanted to discuss trade.
“Listen, we’ve got 50 countries that are burning the phone lines into the White House,” said Brooke Rollins, the secretary of agriculture, on CNN’s “State of the Union.” She said Mr. Trump’s tariffs have left some countries “desperate and willing” to cut a deal.
But the White House has sent conflicting messages about its true appetite for negotiation. Mr. Trump suggested last week that he could cut a deal in exchange for a “phenomenal” return, but then posted on Saturday that the tariffs were “here to stay.”
Mr. Bessent, asked whether Mr. Trump would be willing to cut a deal, suggested there was room to negotiate but that nothing would happen quickly. “They’ve been bad actors for a long time. And it’s not the kind of thing you can negotiate away in days or weeks” he said.
The confusion is unlikely to salve investors’ fears as markets prepare to open Monday, fresh off a weeklong rout during which major indexes fell precipitously. It was the worst weekly decline for the S&P 500 since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
At one point, Mr. Trump even appeared to suggest the market chaos was part of his strategy: He circulated a video from another user on Truth Social that argued the president is “purposely CRASHING” the markets in part to force the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.
Pressed on the matter, Mr. Hassett on Sunday initially responded by saying the Fed is independent, before adding: “He’s not trying to tank the market.”
The wild gyrations in recent days have spooked even some Republicans on Capitol Hill. Representative Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, predicted that deeper losses could convince members of his party to support a bill that would help Congress reclaim some of its authority over tariffs.
“It’s time that Congress restores its authorities here,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Alan Rappeport, Minho Kim and Michael Gold contributed to this story.
new video loaded: Reflecting Pool Turns Green, Paint Peels After Renovation
transcript
transcript
Reflecting Pool Turns Green, Paint Peels After Renovation
Algae blooms have hit the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which underwent a $14.2 million repair project. Blue paint appeared to be chipping from the bottom.
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“The reflecting pool is greener than I have ever seen it before due to algae.” “I was expecting to see blue, but green is O.K.” “Honestly, I don’t think you can fight mother nature.”
By Julie Yoon, Jackeline Luna and Alisa Shodiyev Kaff
June 19, 2026
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
House GOP Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., rebuked a school board in Richmond, Michigan, after some of its members tried to remove a conservative colleague for missing meetings while on military deployment to the Middle East.
Ray Stier, who received an American flag and a copy of the Congressional Record from McClain on Thursday as a commendation of his work, had been on deployment, attending board meetings remotely, but eventually lost virtual access.
That’s when the board called for his removal, citing a “disservice” caused by his absence.
“One of the board members’ family was taking to social media and putting out misinformation about myself and my wife and things that were not factually accurate and then ultimately calling for my resignation and prompting others to reach out to the district to call for my recall,” Stier recounted.
PARENTS SAY THEY’RE RUNNING FOR LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS TO FIGHT ‘POISONOUS’ CRITICAL RACE THEORY
House GOP Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., left, pictured alongside Ray Stier, a school board member in Richmond, Michigan. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images; office of Lisa McClain)
The moment is just the most recent clash between Republicans and school boards over policies that, in their view, are gatekeeping schools against diversity of thought and accountability.
“I think education is extremely important and vital,” McClain told Fox News Digital.
“And educators and administrators need to teach children how to think, not what to think. It’s about time that administrators begin to get held accountable for their actions. Good actions and bad actions.”
McClain’s meeting with Stier comes on the heels of a congressional hearing last week where she grilled a superintendent from Virginia over student privacy policy, probing if those policies were being unevenly applied to favor transgender students.
VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICT SLAPPED WITH COMPLAINT ALLEGING NEW CLAIMS IN VIRAL TRANS LOCKER ROOM FIGHT
Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., leaves a House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club on Feb. 28, 2023. (Tom Williams/ CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)
“The victims got a 10-day suspension and the biological female that did the filming got a one-day suspension,” McClain said, referring to an incident at Stone Bridge High School in Loudoun County where students had been reprimanded for filming in a locker room.
“How does that make sense?”
In Stier’s case, McClain questioned whether the board had targeted Stier on account of just his deployment overseas. Stierhad clashed with the board after learning that some of the district’s bathroom policies would have allowed fourth-grade students to use the same bathroom as transgender eighth-grade boys.
“Prior to him filling the seat, the seat was open for two months,” McClain observed. So that logical argument doesn’t exactly make sense to me; it doesn’t really hold a lot of water.”
MICHIGAN PARENT WANTS TRUMP TO ACT AFTER DAUGHTER SHARES LOCKER ROOM WITH TRANS-ATHLETE
House GOP Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., left, pictured alongside Richmond, Michigan school board member Ray Stier right. (Office of Lisa McClain)
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For his own part, Stier believes his case will refocus attention on the importance of the school board and its membership.
“My goal is to continue being an advocate for the community. One of the good things that I think came out of this was that it got so much attention that some of the community members who were unaware of the dynamics that were not being brought to light,” Stier said.
California’s political watchdog commission on Thursday finalized a $31,500 fine against Gov. Gavin Newsom, alleging that the Democratic leader failed to report three dozen behested payments totaling $5.5 million mostly to support wildfire recovery by the deadline under state law.
The Political Reform Act requires elected officials to disclose payments of $5,000 or more that they solicit or direct others to give to a charitable, legislative or governmental purpose within 30 days.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission said 34 of the violations were for failing to report on time that Newsom and his staff directed outreach from companies and foundations that wanted to help after the Los Angeles wildfires to the California Fire Foundation. The nonprofit was started in 1987 by the California Professional Firefighters to support the families of fallen firefighters and communities impacted by fire.
The donations include $1 million from the Chuck Lorre Foundation and $500,000 apiece from Lockheed Martin, the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation and BlackRock, among others gifts.
The governor also failed in 2024 to report on time two behested payments, totaling $100,000 from the Schmidt Family Foundation and Schwab Charitable Funds to the Institute for Local Government, a nonprofit within the League of California Cities.
The commission said the governor reported all of the payments “prior to public discovery” or contact from its enforcement division, which it considered a mitigating factor. Newsom also signed the stipulation and agreed to the fine.
Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for Newsom’s office, said the issue involved late paperwork at a time when the governor’s staff was focused on emergency response and supporting survivors. She also underscored the fact that the reports were filed before he was contact by the FPPC.
Gallegos said the fine is unrelated to an alleged investigation into the governor and his wife by the Department of Justice, which Newsom announced this week.
Newsom alleged Monday that Trump is using the government as a political weapon to target him and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Newsom announced the investigation after he learned that the FBI and Internal Revenue Service asked his associates questions about nonprofits and businesses related to the couple.
The governor’s office characterized the investigation as a fishing expedition. The Trump administration declined to comment.
A source familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly, said two federal probes have been going on for about a year, and that they originated not from Washington, D.C., but from conversations between whistleblowers and federal prosecutors based in Sacramento. The probes are linked to Newsom’s former chief-of-staff, Dana Williamson, and Siebel Newsom’s taxes, the source said.
The FPPC violations mark the second time Newsom has reported payments late, which increased his penalty for the new infractions. The commission fined Newsom in 2024 for failing to timely report 18 payments totaling $14.4 million.
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