Trump admits flubbing figures in rambling trade war speech: 'I misunderstood'
May 12, 2025
President Donald Trump spoke Monday about negotiations with China that resulted in a dramatic step back from a tariff trade war — but in a rambling speech, he revealed the talks had left him confused.
First, he told the press, "Both sides now agreed to reduce the tariffs imposed. After April 2nd, to 10% for 90 days as negotiators continue." The date was more than a month in the past as he was talking May 12.
Trump then claimed that, until they began speaking, China was "being hurt very badly. They were closing up factories. They were having a lot of unrest, and they were very happy to be able to do something with us."
"And I don't know if people realize this, but we made a great deal with China, a great trade deal. But it was a much bigger deal originally, and then they canceled it right in the last day," Trump also claimed. He appeared to be talking about a previous negotiation from his first administration, and not the one that happened over the weekend, as he mentioned former Secretary of Agriculture Donny Perdue.
"Some of your faces I remember were there when that happened. I remember you, and we had a deal where they opened up their country to trade with the United States, and they took that away at the last moment," Trump said.
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It's unclear what he meant, but China has been trading with the U.S. for decades. The Library of Congress page that discusses U.S. trade said that in 1979, the "U.S. and China reestablished diplomatic relations and signed a bilateral trade deal."
Trump claimed that "they took that away at the last moment," but then followed up by saying, "and then I canceled the whole thing. And then six months later, we ended up doing a smaller deal. But it was a big deal. It was $50 billion worth of product that they were going to purchase from our farmers, etc, and we agreed to that."
He then confessed that he was confused about the amount of the tariffs.
"People thought it was 15 because they were doing 15," Trump said. "We made it 50 because I misunderstood the 15. I thought they said — I said, you got to get 50 because when I asked — if you remember the story — when I asked, what are we doing with them? My secretary of agriculture at the time, Sonny Perdue, said, uh, sir, it's about $15 billion and we're asking for 15. And I thought he said 50. So, I said — so they came back with the deal at 15 and I said, no way, I want 50 because you said 50. They said, sir, we didn't say that. Anyway. Bottom line, I said, go back and ask for 50. And they gave us 50, and they were honoring the deal, and we would call them up a lot for the corn and for the wheat and for everything."
Trump said that China was "honoring the detail" until former President Joe Biden "got in, they no longer honored the deal." When Biden came into office, it was amid the COVID-19 crisis, when trade was disrupted.
"The effects of the countries’ different responses are evident in our trade data as Chinese exports are more affected by the shock than Chinese imports. The impact of COVID-19 on trade included delays, shortages, and increased transportation costs. These shocks affected both supply and demand," Science Direct reported in a report about the way the pandemic disrupted trade.
Trump claimed that under Biden, "there was nobody to call. I would call on an average of once every two weeks to say, come on, you have to speed it up a little bit. And our farmers were doing great. I said to him, buy more land and bigger tractors. If you remember, that's what happened. But the deal was a very good deal. But the best part of the deal was that we opened up China. China agreed to open itself up to American business to go in, and it would have been a great thing, I think, for China, they would be able to see things that they haven't seen. They would be able to buy products that they had never been able to buy. Would have been great for American businesses."
Trump then said "they canceled it the last day" and "I got a little bit angry."
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