Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele on Sunday slammed President Donald Trump’s “incoherent capitulation” on tariffs — and blasted White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for claiming the media is simply missing Trump’s “Art of the Deal.”
Trump on Wednesday announced a 90-day pause on tariffs, flip-flopping on a key policy position he’d previously insisted would “never change.”
Steele argued that the president’s sudden about-face “reflects the dynamic of what we’ve seen from the very beginning of this administration, not just in terms of things like tariffs, but the operationalizing of DOGE and so forth.”
Steele then played a clip of Leavitt on Wednesday claiming the media “clearly missed ‘The Art of the Deal'” regarding Trump’s tariff policy. Speaking with reporters, Leavitt said Trump’s tariffs are prompting countries to call the United States. The White House press secretary also argued the policy is having the “opposite effect” of pushing countries away from China.
“The entire world is calling the United States of America, not China, because they need our markets,” Leavitt said.
“What the hell is she talking about?” Steele asked. “Does she not know that China and Japan and other nations are creating their own little economic axes without the U.S. right now?”
Watch the video below or at this link.
