Former President Trump on Tuesday sat down with the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News for an expansive and at-times confrontational interview.
The former president clashed with Bloomberg’s John Micklethwait over the impacts of tariffs, which Trump has pledged to use aggressively if elected in November, and over the events following the 2020 election.
The interview was an opportunity for Trump to speak to a crowd of business people, a crowd he appeared comfortable with as polls show voters trust him more on the economy than Vice President Harris.
Here are five takeaways from the interview.
Trump dismisses tariff concerns
Trump has for months vowed to impose sweeping tariffs on imports and on U.S. companies that outsource manufacturing if he wins in November, but Tuesday marked a rare instance where he faced real-time pushback over the potential consequences.
Micklethwait noted Trump’s plans would essentially halt trade with China, place at least a 10 percent tariff on European nations and have a drastic effect on the U.S. economy, where 40 million jobs rely on trade.
“It’s going to have a massive effect — positive effect. It’s going to be a positive effect,” Trump responded. “It must be hard for you to spend 25 years talking about tariffs as being negative and then have somebody explain to you that you’re totally wrong.”
Micklethwait told Trump that perhaps the gravest risk with tariffs would be on foreign policy, essentially hitting allies with economic penalties.
“How does it help you take on China turning all of your allies against you?” he asked.
Again, Trump was unmoved.
“Tremendously, because China thinks we’re a stupid country,” Trump said. “They can’t believe somebody finally got wise to them.”.
Trump plays coy about Putin calls
After the former president invoked Russian President Vladimir Putin, Micklethwait asked about reports in Bob Woodward’s new book that he’d spoken with Putin since leaving office.
“I don’t comment on that, but I will tell you that if I did, it is a smart thing,” Trump said. “If I’m friendly with people, if I have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. … He’s got 2,000 nuclear weapons, and so do we.”
When Micklethwait noted it sounded as if Trump had spoken to Putin, the former president demurred.
Woodward’s book, “War,” revealed the two leaders have secretly been in touch over the last few years, speaking at least seven times since Trump left office. The book also claimed that while still in office, the Republican nominee sent COVID-19 testing equipment to Putin in the early days of the pandemic.
The Kremlin later confirmed Trump had sent the tests.
The revelations, denied by the Trump team and partially confirmed by the Kremlin, have raised new questions into the nature and legality of the relationship between the two men. Putin is an avowed adversary of the United States.
Fed chairman takes shots
Trump used Tuesday’s setting in front of an audience of business people to swipe at Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, both over his decision to lower interest rates and his qualifications for the job.
“As a very good business man and somebody that’s used a lot of sense, I think I have the right to say that, you know, I think I’m better than he would be,” Trump said. “I think I’m better than most people would be in that position.”
Asked if Trump would remove or demote Powell, whose term lasts into 2026, the former president did not directly answer but again offered pointed criticism of the man he nominated for the role in 2017.
“I think it’s the greatest job in government. You show up to the office once a month, and you say, ‘let’s see’ — flip a coin. And everybody talks about you like you’re a god,” Trump said.
Trump said he was upset at Powell during his presidency for keeping interest rates too high, and he criticized the Fed chairman for dropping rates too much in recent weeks.
The former president told Micklethwait that he did not think the president should be able to order interest rates to be raised or lowered, but they should be allowed to provide input.
Trump downplays Jan. 6 amid peaceful transition questions
Micklethwait asked Trump if he would commit three weeks before Election Day to a peaceful transition of power, particularly after the violence and chaos that followed his 2020 defeat.
“Well you had a peaceful transfer of power,” Trump responded.
“Come on President Trump, you had a peaceful transfer of power compared to Venezuela but it was by far the worst transfer of power in a long time,” Micklethwait said.
Trump brushed aside the question, suggesting Micklethwait was not a fan of his. But he more broadly downplayed the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob violently stormed the Capitol to try and halt the certification of President Biden’s victory after Trump had refused to accept the results.
“I left. I left the morning that I was supposed to leave. I went to Florida. And you had a very peaceful transfer,” Trump said, claiming nobody in the crowd at the Capitol had a gun.
The former president’s rhetoric around a peaceful transfer of power is sure to be closely watched in the coming weeks ahead of what is expected to be a closely contested election. Trump has not directly said he would accept the election results if he loses, offering qualifications about the election needing to be “honest.”
He has come under fresh scrutiny after telling Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo he could rely on the military to quell unrest among his critics, who he has called the “enemy within.”
Trump singles out Pennsylvania’s importance
The former president on Tuesday confirmed what election experts have signaled in the lead up to Election Day: That Pennsylvania is likely to determine the winner.
“So they say Pennsylvania, I would say, most. I think we’re doing very well there,” Trump said.
“I think you look at Michigan, too,” Trump added.
Either Trump or Vice President Harris would have a difficult time getting to 270 electoral votes without the 19 electoral votes the Keystone State accounts for, though both campaigns have insisted they have multiple paths to victory.
The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s average of polls shows Trump and Harris are separated by less than 1 percentage point in the state.
Experts have cautioned that Pennsylvania may not be able to count ballots fast enough for experts to determine a winner on Election Night. The commonwealth was not called for President Biden until four days after Election Day in 2020.
