In an interview with NBC, President Trump stated that he “couldn’t care less” if foreign automakers raised the prices of their products due to his recently implemented tariffs. This follows his announcement that he will impose 25% tariffs on all foreign-made automobiles.
In the same interview, the president discussed his commitment to annexing Greenland and again reiterated that military force is not off the table. After a full week of news stories about Signal, tariffs, and Greenland, Trump waved off concerns by pointing to polling numbers that show the number of Americans who believe the country is on the right track is at record highs. “What I see is right track, wrong track. And the right track was the first time in like 40 years where it was the right track.” Recent polling shows the majority of Americans do not approve of Trump’s performance as president.
When asked what his message was to automobile CEOs, Trump said, “The message is congratulations, if you make your car in the United States, you’re going to make a lot of money. If you don’t, you’re going to have to probably come to the United States, because if you make your car in the United States, there is no tariff.” When asked if he warned CEOs against raising prices, he said, “No, I never said that. I couldn’t care less if they raise prices because people are going to start buying American-made cars.”
When asked if the tariffs will be permanent, the president said, “Absolutely, they’re permanent, sure. The world has been ripping off the United States for the last 40 years and more. And all we’re doing is being fair, and frankly, I’m being very generous.” Later the same day, Trump maintained that there are no plans to delay the tariffs and that he would consider negotiating “only if people are willing to give us something of great value. Because countries have things of great value; otherwise, there’s no room for negotiation.”
The cost of foreign-made cars is expected to rise by thousands of dollars. Foreign auto parts are also expected to be taxed at 25%, even for automobiles that are assembled in the United States.
