'It might!' Trump concedes tariffs might actually backfire
President Donald Trump acknowledged that consumers could soon feel the financial burn of his economic plan, which includes sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China.The revelation came Monday as Trumpâ??s 40-minute-long Super Bowl night sit-down with Fox News host Brett Baier aired. Trump bounced a...
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks, as he signs executive orders, while Howard Lutnick stands in the background, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., February 10, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
President Donald Trump acknowledged that consumers could soon feel the financial burn of his economic plan, which includes sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China.
The revelation came Monday as Trump’s 40-minute-long Super Bowl night sit-down with Fox News host Brett Baier aired. Trump bounced around a variety of topics during the wide-ranging interview but turned heads when he said he would make an announcement this week involving reciprocal tariffs.
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“We have a very sophisticated plan,” Trump told Baier. “I want to have tariffs separately from that – on steel, on autos, on semiconductors and chips – and probably pharmaceuticals.”
“And you're not worried that any of that's going to go back to the consumer?” Baier asked.
“It might, but it's ultimately going to be much less expensive,” Trump said.
He then launched into an example using what he referred to as the “so-called ‘fat drug' or ‘fat shot’ – whatever it's called Ozempic or Monjaro – in London, you get it for $88”
In New York, Trump said, “You get it for $1,200, you can't even buy it.”
“It's very unfair,” he added. “The identical package made in the same factory shipped to different places, but made literally in the same factory in London…And the reason is because everything's added on to the United States because the United States has been too nice.”
Reacting to the interview, Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume said Trump has a challenge on his hands – and agreed consumers should brace for higher prices.
“There’s no doubt that the tariffs in the short run and perhaps very much so as well raise prices,” Hume told Fox News viewers Monday night. “And this is a president who’s committed to bringing them down, so I think there’s a real challenge there.”