WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump touted the expansive new tariffs on imports he imposed on global trading partners Thursday night, telling NBC News in a phone interview that it all was going "very well, very smooth."
He also said that with just a few hours to go before his self-imposed midnight deadline for trade deals, it was "too late" for other countries to avoid tariff rates set to snap in place next week, which he formalized in a new executive order.
But, he added, his door will always be open to compelling offers: "It doesn’t mean that somebody doesn’t come along in four weeks and say we can make some kind of a deal."
In Thursday's executive order, Trump made official his agreements with trading partners such as the European Union, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the Philippines.
Trump’s order unilaterally sets rates — which are set to go into effect Aug. 7 — for trading partners that didn’t reach agreements with him. For example, Switzerland’s rate will be set higher than previously threatened, at 39%, while Taiwan’s will be set lower, at 20%.
Trump boasted of the tariff revenue the United States is already taking in — $26 billion in June, according to Treasury Department figures — and said there would be much more to come.
“We will be taking in hundreds of billions of dollars, and very quickly,” he said.
Asked whether he’s worried about potential spikes in prices for imported goods, Trump replied, “The only price that’s spiked is the hundreds of billions of dollars coming in.”
Trump indicated that he was open to further discussions with Canada and said he may even speak to Prime Minister Mark Carney later Thursday night, but he said he wouldn't make a new deal with the country before the deadline.
Trump also said he was unfamiliar with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva’s recent New York Times interview suggesting Brazil was prepared to dig in and push back against the U.S. tariff program.
Told of its tenor, Trump responded: “That’s OK. But he doesn’t have to do business with the United States, which is fine with me.”
Trump also discussed the upcoming trip by special envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who will travel to the Gaza Strip on Friday.
"We want to make sure people get fed," he said, referring to the hunger crisis in Gaza and saying he was looking forward to hearing their report on the situation.
A senior White House official told NBC News this week that Trump has been "troubled" by the pictures of children starving in Gaza.
“We can save a lot of people,” Trump said Monday during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland. “I mean, some of those kids are — that’s real starvation stuff. I see it, and you can’t fake it. So we’re going to be even more involved.”
Asked Thursday whether he trusts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to administer U.S. aid in Gaza, Trump said that “he’s certainly a competent person” and added that he remained concerned about Hamas’ stealing aid.
“Good management will stop that," Trump said. "Hopefully the Israelis will provide that.”
