President Donald Trump is facing backlash after claiming that a sharp decline in port traffic—and a significant drop in goods entering the U.S.—is actually a positive development. When warned that the slowdown could cost truckers and dock workers their paychecks or even their jobs, Trump praised the downturn, arguing it means the country isn’t “losing money.”
“That means we lose less money, you know?” President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “When I see that, that means we lose less money. Look, China was making over a trillion, $1.1 trillion, in my opinion. You know, different numbers from $500 billion to a trillion or a trillion, I think it was 1.1 trillion. And frankly, if we didn’t do business, we would have been better off.”
“Okay, you understand that?” Trump continued. “So when you say it’s slowed down, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”
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The President’s remarks were quickly criticized.
U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) commented, “It’s not a good thing. Dock workers & truck drivers don’t think it’s a good thing. Businesses don’t think it’s a good thing.”
U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) wrote, “I represent the second largest container port in the U.S, I promise you it’s a bad thing.”
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins quoted Trump’s “good thing, not a bad thing” comment, then posted video of Seattle’s port commissioner saying, “We currently do not have any container ships at port right now.”
MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle, who spent 14 years at top financial services companies before starting her journalism career, wrote that she had just sent the President’s comments “to every wall st source I have that supported our President.”
“Every response I got was some sort of embarrassed emoji.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
Trump on port traffic: When you are saying it slowed down, that's a good thing, not a bad thing pic.twitter.com/MXjo8l9159
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 8, 2025