While Donald Trump and his more devoted acolytes may be celebrating the 90-day pause on tariffs, he received criticism from some unexpected corners who noted that he retreated when he said he never would and capitulated in a way he would never admit.
“You have to have flexibility,” the president said Thursday when asked to account for his reversal. “I could say here’s a wall and I’m going to go through it and you can’t go through the wall. Sometimes you have to be able to go under the wall or around the wall or over the wall.”
Jessica Tarlov, co-host of “The Five” on Fox News didn’t hold back, “Trump even admitted that it wasn’t the “Art of the Deal” or be cool … He didn’t just flinch, he ducked. There are trillions lost”
But why did the president cave in the first place? Just one week ago, as many leading Republicans tried to get him to reconsider the reciprocal tariffs, Trump insisted his policy would not be altered.
That all changed on Wednesday, following a sharp sell-off in usually safe U.S. government bond markets, when it became clear that the economic consequences of the president’s strategy were potentially catastrophic and worse than his advisers had forecast, according to CNN, which spoke to three officials familiar with the matter.
They said the growing alarm inside the Treasury Department over developments in the bond market figured majorly in Trump’s decision to pause the tariffs for every country except China.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed his concerns directly to Trump Wednesday in a meeting that preceded the pause announcement, underscoring concerns shared by White House economic officials who had briefed Trump. Key business allies also made the case for Trump to retreat in calls to the White House that centered on the bond market’s volatility, CNN reported.
“The bond market is very tricky, I was watching it,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “The bond market right now is beautiful. But yeah, I saw last night where people were getting a little queasy.”
Fox Business Channel’s Charles Gasparino seemingly felt uncertain about taking a swipe at the president. “Let’s be clear what happened here. Who capitulated and why,” he began. “I don’t want to say this because I’m a patriot, I’m an American, but it is the White House who capitulated … and the reason why is because of the bond market.”
“Let’s be clear. Trump didn’t take the win,” wrote one X user, fighting back against the MAGA brigades who were marveling about Trump’s dealmaking. “He took a humiliating loss.”
Countered one MAGA user: “Looks like he made a touchdown.”
Trump was certainly treating his surrender as a victory, taking credit for massive gains on Wall Street while ignoring the trillion-dollar losses leading up to the pause.
“It’s the biggest increase in the history of the stock market. That’s pretty good,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “If you keep going, you’re going to be back to where it was four weeks ago.”
Bessent and other officials insisted the decision to pause the tariffs did not signal a retreat. They’ve attempted instead to frame the decision as part of a calculated strategy by the president to bring nations to the bargaining table.
“It took great courage, great courage for him to stay the course until this moment,” Bessent said.
Meanwhile, Sen. Adam Schiff said Wednesday he plans an investigation into whether any insider trading accompanied the president’s tariffs pause.
“I’m writing to the White House to demand who knew in advance that the president was gonna once again flip flop on tariffs? And are people cashing in?” the California Democrat said. “There is just all too much opportunity for people in the White House and the administration to be insider trading.”
While the pause did lead to a sharp rebound in global stock indices, with the S&P 500 surging 9.5% and the Nasdaq climbing 12.2%, marking its best day since 2001, the optimism was short-lived. By midday Thursday, markets reversed more than half of these gains due to escalating U.S.-China trade tensions and clarifications from the White House that tariffs on Chinese imports would rise to 145%, not the previously stated 125%.
