'I know what the hell I'm doing': Trump defiant in the face of trade war as international tariffs take effect
9 April 2025, 05:57 | Updated: 9 April 2025, 16:15
Trump has remained defiant in the face of plummeting global stock markets as the US President - as the US President's controversial tariffs came into effect on Wednesday.
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President Trump has refused to 'pause' tariffs despite plummeting markets around the world, instead announcing increased tariffs of 104 per cent on Chinese goods late on Tuesday.
Markets around the world jittered ahead of the Wednesday morning bell, with the Chinese yuan hovering just above the lowest level seen since 2007 - as Beijing's currency depreciated further.
The US President was seen to declare "I know what the hell I'm doing!" on Tuesday night, making the comments during a defiant speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington.
He proclaimed: "These countries are calling me up, kissing my ass...they are dying to make a deal... They are, they are dying to make a deal. Please, please, sir, make a deal. I'll do anything."
"I know what the hell I'm doing. I know what I'm doing, and you know what I'm doing too," he said.
"I'm the only one that would have done the tariffs, because everybody was afraid. They were afraid of being criticised."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt aslo confirmed that nearly 70 countries have approached the US to engage in tariff talks since Trump's historic "Liberation Day" announcement last Wednesday.
It comes as Elon Musk branded Trump’s tariff guru, Peter Navarro, "dumber than a sack of bricks" overnight.
Last week saw Trump announce a blanket tariff on China of 34 per cent, as he slapped levies on nearly all countries across the world.
The measures saw fears of a recession grow overnight, with oil prices diving almost 4%.
Those levies included 10per cent tariffs on the Heard and McDonald islands - a land mass with no human population and inhabited entirely by penguins and seals.
That list also includes Australia - a nation that runs a trade surplus with the United States and on paper should not face Trump's heavy levies according to the formula.
It left many commentators questioning the maths behind the Trump administration - and more notably Mr Navarro's - tariffs policy, given criticism of Mr Navarro's economic book 'Death by China' - a publication that is said to have got him the White House job.
Last week Beijing announced 34 per cent retaliatory tariffs and Washington has hit back.
On Tuesday Trump has threatened China with an additional 50% tariff - raising the total tariff to 104%.
Read More: Full list of countries hit by Donald Trump's tariff announcement
Trump has since said he "believes that China wants to make a deal with the US," said Karoline Leavitt, the US president's spokeswoman:
During the Press Conference Mrs Leavitt also said that 70 countries have reached out for deals - and they're happy to hear from more.
She also the President would gracious but firm if China came to the table.
The additional tariffs slapped on nations Trump deems the 'worst offenders' can be seen below:
- Vietnam: 46%
- Thailand: 36%
- Japan: 24%
- European Union: 20%
This comes as Elon Musk has branded one of Donald Trump’s top tariff advisers a “moron” as the rift between the president and his billionaire ally deepens.
The Tesla founder, who recently hit out at Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on countries across the globe, slammed Peter Navarro, the president’s senior counsellor for trade, describing him as “dumber than a sack of bricks.”
It comes after Mr Navarro accused the billionaire of running a “car assembler” rather than a manufacturer.
Musk rejected accusations of being against tariffs because he wants to use “cheap foreign parts”, describing them as “demonstrably false”, and declaring Tesla “has the most American-made cars.”
The next stage of Mr Trump's tariff programme comes into force in the early hours of Wednesday, with import taxes at 20% for goods from European Union nations and 24% from Japan.
The UK government is pushing for a deal with the White House in the hope of easing the 10% tariff on US imports of British goods, along with a 25% tariff on cars and separate import taxes for steel and aluminium.
Hitting out at Musk, Mr Navarro told CNBC: “In many cases, if you go to his Texas plant, a good part of the engines that he gets – which in the EV case are the batteries – come from Japan and come from China. The electronics come from Taiwan.
“What we want – and the difference is in our thinking and Elon’s on this – is that we want the tyres made in Akron. We want the transmissions made in Indianapolis. We want the engines made in Flint and Saginaw. And we want the cars manufactured here.”
He added: “We want them home for our national security.”
A furious Elon Musk then took to Twitter, branding Mr Navarro a “moron” and in one post simply calling him “Peter Retarrdo.”
“Tesla has the most American-made cars. Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks,” Musk fumed.