Transcript: Trudeau’s Scorching Takedown of Trump’s Tariffs Shames GOP
Dionne: I’m a small-d Democrat, so I say this: I think people underestimate the wisdom of the people in general. No matter how often Trump says, you will pay this, I’ve seen pretty consistently at least 60 percent and usually 70 percent plus say, We understand that we’re going to pay these tariffs. And it’s heartening that all the Trump propaganda in the world doesn’t work, but it’s also a real problem for Trump. And in any event, if this does increase prices at the supermarket, everybody’s going to notice that.
By the way, these tariffs are a real mess for the American auto industry because so much of the auto industry in our country involves parts going back and forth across the border from Canada and Mexico. I saw one figure today—that [these tariffs] could increase the price of an American car, or a broadly American car, by $2,500. So people are going to see these if they endure. I wonder if the pressure from public opinion, from Republicans in Congress who oppose this, from Trudeau and the pushback from Canada and also Mexico are going to make him say, I won the concessions I want, and pull back. The last time he did it before he imposed it, I wonder if this time he’s going to have to do it after he imposed it.
Sargent: Well, he has shown an inclination to do that. And with Mexico, it’s particularly interesting because one of the fake justifications for his tariffs is that he’s forcing Mexico to actually crack down on migrants in fentanyl. In reality, the former president negotiated an arrangement with Mexico at around the time of 2023 to 2024, which got Mexico to actually start cracking down on migrants going north through Mexico to the southern border of the U.S in a big way. That’s a big reason the crossings went down. He’s trying to take credit for the lower crossings, and I think what he’ll try to say is that his threat of tariffs is what did it when, in fact, it was his predecessor.
