Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent put a brave face on the announced tariff policy reversal, addressing assembled members of the press outside the White House Wednesday afternoon, just minutes after Trump announced it via Truth Social post.
Astute observers of the Trump administration have predicted today’s victorious announcement of a 90-day tariff pause for several days. One outlet that insisted, however, that negotiations were not part of the controversial and reciprocal tariff policy announced on April 2 as “Liberation Day?” White House officials, who repeatedly claimed that there was zero room for negotiation in the hours and days that followed that event.
“We saw the successful negotiating strategy that President Trump implemented a week ago today,” Bessent said, following comments and introduction by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. It has brought more than 75 countries forward to negotiate. It’s a great courage for him to stay the course until this moment, and what we have ended up with here, as I told you, is an escalation.”
Immediately after Trump announced the 90-day pause, which some observers have seen as a caving to political and economic pressure, the Dow Jones Industrial Index shot up over 2,000 points, a welcome reprieve for investors who have watched consecutive days of nosediving indices and lost wealth due to the Trump tariff dalliance.
Bessent also left open the opportunity for China to also receive a 10% tariff rate if it were to stop down on its own retaliatory tariff reaction to Trump’s actions.
Watch above via CNN.
