Shortly after President Donald Trump suddenly withdrew on his destabilizing “mutual” tariffs on Wednesday and introduced a 90-day break for most affected nations except China, journalists asked him what led him to the course change.
“I thought people jumped a little out of the line. They became Yippy. You know they got a little Yippy, a little scared,” Trump said under a photo with racing masters outside the white house.
It is unclear what he was referring to exactly, but he signaled that he had been watching the wild fleeting markets, including a sale in the bond market where he said “people got a little nauseous.”
“Over the past few days, it looked pretty glum,” he said, before he quickly turned to smooth out the Uptick stock immediately after his announcement of the 90-day break-something he first communicated in a social media post that shook the markets and the world.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event with the Racing Champions of the Nascar Cup series, the NTT Indycar series and IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, in the White House in Washington, April 9, 2025.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
“You have to be flexible,” Trump explained, despite the fact that he repeatedly insisted that his tariffs were here to stay. “You have to be able to show some flexibility. And I am able to.”
Later, in the oval office, Trump said the break was something he had thought of over a period that “came together this morning.”
“And we decided to pull the trigger and we did it today and we’re happy about it,” Trump said.
It was a marked shift from his bluster earlier this week. Trump told ABC News Chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce on Monday he “didn’t look” at a break.
On Tuesday night, hours before the increased tariffs came into force, and his trassing message for Republican lawmakers for part of the dinner was, “I know what the hell I’m doing.”
Officials of the White House spun Trump’s sudden turning as brave and even part of an overall large negotiating strategy, although the administration had sent mixed messages about whether negotiations were even on the table.
“It took great courage, great courage for him to remain the course until this moment and what we ended up with here,” said the Treasury Scott Bessent.
President Donald Trump is preparing to sign a executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, April 9, 2025 in Washington.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
“President Trump created maximum negotiation development for himself, and the customs came into force 15 hours ago, those we have lowered … were announced a week ago, and we have just been overwhelmed, overwhelmed by the answer from mostly our allies who want to come and negotiate in good faith,” Bessent said.
The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said to the media, “clearly that you missed the art of the deal” – a not so subtle reference to Trump’s 1987 book.
“We finally have a president here in the White House playing the long game that is doing what is right for the American worker in our industries here at home,” Leavitt claimed.
While markets rose after Trump’s break message, the uncertainty of what happens then continues.
Bessent said Trump wants to be “personally involved” in negotiations with other nations and that “it will take some time.” Trump said he will make “fair deals.”
The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speak to journalists outside West Wing of the White House, April 9, 2025, in Washington.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
The Looming Store is the Chinese factor such as the US and Beijing – the world’s two largest economies – escalates tariffs.
As part of the break, the White House said for countries who want to negotiate that the baseline rut level for all trading partners will be lowered to 10%. For China, however, Tump’s tariff increases to a full 125%after Beijing issued retaliation fees on US goods.
Trump said Wednesday he was “honored” for imposing customs on the customs and arguing that no other president would have done so.
“Nothing is over yet, but we have a huge amount of spirit from other countries, including China,” Trump said. “China will make an appointment. They just don’t know how to do it.”
Trump’s “Liberation Day” ending of high tariffs for dozens of trading partners marked a performance Trump’s chased for decades.
But in the days followed, the markets fell and trillion of dollars was lost in retirement and college savings accounts. Republicans and business leaders began to openly express the mounting of anxiety over the president’s sweeping approach, of which Trump said he had looked at cable news.
The Senate and the House Republicans expressed relief after hearing about Trump’s heart change.
“A lot of smiles,” Senator Mike Rounds said.
