After President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform he would be reducing the "reciprocal tariffs" on all countries except China to 10 percent for 90 days, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick took to X to proclaim this walkback was in fact a massive victory for the administration.
"[Treasury Secretary] Scott Bessent and I sat with the President while he wrote one of the most extraordinary Truth posts of his Presidency," wrote Lutnick. "The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction."
This effort at selling the president's decision did not go down well, as many commenters on social media roundly mocked Lutnick for his post.
"They're trying so hard to pretend that they weren't forced to back down from their own lunacy," posted writer and blogger John Ettorre.
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"'Howard, your job is to go out and spin this as a win !' Sorry .. I.. you .. sorry Potus what ?? 'Just tell them WE WON'," wrote British journalist Emily Maitlis.
"Why didn't you do this in the first place?" wrote conservative columnist David Harsanyi.
"You guys will spin this in your favor," wrote podcaster Ed Krassenstein. "In reality, the world called your bluff and you realized you screwed up. Now you are thankfully backtracking. Meanwhile small businesses have no clue if these tariffs will go into effect again in 90 days."
"Lutnick makes it sound like they were baby-sitting POTUS to make sure he actually would hit send," wrote Employ America executive director Skanda Amarnath.
"Two things can be true: 1. The tariffs were a misguided, ineffective way to achieve unclear objectives. 2. This sudden reversal is the latest in a developing pattern: if allies and adversaries think that a Trump promise of Fire and Fury is a bluff, they'll be more likely to perceive weakness, rather than strength," wrote Georgetown University security research analyst Cole McFaul. "Undermines the US's ability to advance foreign policy objectives in the future."
