Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is holding a rally before the New Hampshire presidential primary in Rochester, New Hampshire, USA on January 21, 2024.
Mike Seger | Reuters
President Donald Trump added in an interview with NBC News on Saturday that he “doesn’t really care” if the automaker raises prices for new tariffs as the attack plan didn’t fire anyone involved in a signal group chat that was carelessly leaked to journalists prior to the military strike.
In a wide range of interviews, Trump also discussed his commitment to annexing Greenland, reiterating that military options are not off-table.
Following a week’s headline on signals, tariffs and Greenland, the president has piqued concerns that his agenda is causing volatility on Wall Street or reducing consumer confidence, indicating a record high in Americans who believe the country is on the right track.
“What I’m looking at is the right trajectory, the wrong trajectory, and the right trajectory was the first time in 40 years when it was the right trajectory,” the president also called out at one point, Finnish president Alexander Stubb. The two men were playing golf in Florida on Saturday.
More details from Trump’s interview with NBC News:
Don’t worry if the automaker will raise prices
The president said that if foreign automakers raise prices after they announced they would impose a 25% tariff on all foreign-made cars, they would “not really care.”
His latest message asked the CEO of the automotive industry what it was, and if he warned them about raising prices, Trump said, “Congratulations to the message. If you build a car in the US, you’ll make a lot of money, or you’ll probably have to come to the US.”
If you told the CEO not to raise prices, as reported in The Wall Street Journal, as reported in The Wall Street Journal, you added, “No, I’ve never said that. They start buying American-made cars, so if they raise prices, I wouldn’t mind that much.”
Trump continued, “I couldn’t care much. I hope they raise prices. If so, people will buy American-made cars. We have a lot.”
When asked if he was worried about car prices going up, Trump said, “No, I couldn’t really care because if foreign cars prices rise, they’re going to buy American cars.”
Earlier this week, NBC News reported that even if foreign auto parts are assembled domestically, they will still be taxed at 25%. Companies importing vehicles under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will undergo special consideration until the government establishes a process to impose a 25% obligation, according to the White House.
Until then, USMCA compliant auto parts will remain free of tariffs.
The president also said the tariffs imposed were permanent.
“Absolutely, they are certainly permanent. The world has taken America for over 40 years, and what we’re doing is fair and frankly, I’m very generous,” Trump said.
Trump’s tariff announcement on Wednesday was set to ensure that tariffs on various consumer goods are in effect a few weeks before the planned “liberation date” on April 2nd. They elicited quick criticism from international leaders like Japanese Prime Minister Isba and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
In his remarks Thursday, Carney told reporters that tariffs were “unjust” and that “the old relationship with the United States has ended based on deepening our economy, strict security and military cooperation.”
Trump on Saturday said he would not be planning to delay the April 2 tariff levies further, saying, “We will only consider negotiating that point if people want to give us something of great value.
Signal Incident
Trump said he has no plans to fire anyone following news that national security adviser Michael Waltz added senior members of the Trump administration and journalists who were discussing plans to attack Hauch’s militants in Yemen earlier this month.
“I won’t fire people for fake news and witch hunts,” Trump said throughout the interview, calling “fake news” “fake news.”
“I,” the president asked if he was still confident in Waltz and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses, if they had sent a detailed timeline of the planned strike before they happened.
“It’s just a witch hunt, and I think fake news like you are always talking about it, but it’s just a witch hunt and shouldn’t be talked about (about),” Trump added. “We had a very successful strike. We were very violent and deadly and very deadly. And anyone would want to talk about it. All they want to talk about is nonsense. That’s fake news.”
Trump’s comments come in the face of calls from his allies.
In the chat, officials appeared to be discussing their plans to strike Hooty’s rebels, but they argued that the Trump administration has not been repeatedly classified.
“I don’t know what the signal is. I don’t care what the signal is,” Trump said Saturday. “All I can tell you is that it’s just a witch hunt, and that’s the only thing the press wants to talk about, because you have nothing else to say.
To get Greenland, everything is on the table
The president on Saturday also said he was having a real conversation “absolutely” about Greenland’s annexation.
“We’re going to get Greenland. Yeah, 100%,” Trump said.
He added, “It’s a good chance that we can do it without military strength,” but “I won’t take anything off the table.”
This comes a day after Vice President J.D. Vance visited Greenland with his wife Usha and spoke with military personnel from the Pituffik Space Base, a US Space Force base on Greenland’s northwest coast.
While there, Vance said, “Our message to Denmark is very simple. We’re not doing a good job from the people of Greenland.”
Asked what messages to get Greenland send to Russia and the rest of the world, Trump said, “I don’t think much about it. I really don’t care. Greenland is a very different subject and is very different. It’s international peace. It’s international security and strength.”
“You have ships sailing outside of Greenland from Russia, from China and many other places from China. And we are not going to allow it to happen. It will hurt the world and the US,” he added.
