After Chaos, Trump Capitulates On Tariffs, Then Sprays Blame Around

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – President Donald Trump abruptly reversed course on his own tariff policy on April 9, capping a chaotic week of mounting economic concern and internal Republican dissent. Just days after announcing sweeping new tariffs on friend and foe, in a Rose Garden ceremony he dubbed “Liberation Day,” Trump pulled back—amid warnings from advisers, GOP lawmakers, and market analysts that the policy could trigger a financial tailspin.

Behind closed doors, Trump’s inner circle had grown alarmed by the bond markets’ volatility and the threat of a broader economic downturn. Some of his closest confidants had privately urged restraint, warning that the abrupt tariff escalation could backfire.

But as Trump talked to reporters to formally announce the rollback, the tone quickly shifted. Instead of owning the reversal, he doubled down on grievance—lashing out at everyone but himself.

“I don’t blame China,” Trump said, as he pulled back the tariffs on all except  China. “I blame the people who sat right here before me—stupid people, maybe corrupt. They let China rob us blind. Biden, Obama, all of them. This should’ve been handled decades ago.”

Calling President Joe Biden “stupid” and “maybe corrupt,” Trump insisted that America’s massive trade deficit with China—he exaggerated it at $1 trillion, though official numbers place it closer to $263 billion—was proof of past leadership failure. “They allowed China to take advantage of us,” he said. “Not just Biden, but everyone going back before Obama.”

Trump said China merely took advantage of weak U.S. leadership, pointing fingers at both Democrats and Republicans for being, in his words, “incompetent and lacking courage.”

“They considered China a developing country under the WTO and let them get away with murder,” Trump said. “We’re a developing country too, if that’s the standard. This whole thing has been rigged from the start, and nobody had the guts to fix it.”

He also singled out Democrats and his fierce critic who has had the best of him on camera in the past, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer: “They talked about tariffs for decades. Everyone knew it had to be done. But they never had the guts. It takes guts.”

Still, Trump characteristically spun the tariff tale: “It’s a transition to greatness,” he said.