President Donald Trump spent Friday morning posting about the economy in an apparent effort to push back on a widely criticized remark by White House press secretary Katherine Leavitt.
A reporter asked Leavitt whether the president had any other renovations in mind at the White House after ordering the swift demolition of the East Wing, and the press secretary said Trump's mind was "always churning" about improvements to the official presidential home and workplace but for now "the ballroom is really the president’s main priority."
Trump seemingly heard the critics – "Maybe literally anything else Americans are struggling with could be a priority? Cost of living? Health care? National security? Just a thought," posted the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats on X – and fired off a series of Truth Social posts on the economy after calling off trade talks Thursday night with Canada over pushback against his tariffs.
"THE UNITED STATES IS WEALTHY, POWERFUL, AND NATIONALLY SECURE AGAIN, ALL BECAUSE OF TARIFFS! THE MOST IMPORTANT CASE EVER IS IN THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT," Trump posted at 7:29 a.m. "GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!"
"THE STOCK MARKET IS STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE BECAUSE OF TARIFFS!" he added four minutes later.
The president earlier touted the supposed benefits of his tariffs to automakers and thanked himself.
"Ford and General Motors UP BIG on Tariffs placed on Big and Midsized Trucks coming from other countries," Trump posted at 7:01 a.m. "Thank you President Trump!"
He also reiterated his intention to escalate his trade war against Canada over an advertisement produced by Ontario's provisional government highlighting a 1987 speech by the late President Ronald Reagan explaining his opposition to tariffs, which the former president's foundation and Trump claimed was misleading.
"CANADA CHEATED AND GOT CAUGHT!!!" Trump posted at 7:20 a.m. "They fraudulently took a big buy ad saying that Ronald Reagan did not like Tariffs, when actually he LOVED TARIFFS FOR OUR COUNTRY, AND ITS NATIONAL SECURITY. Canada is trying to illegally influence the United States Supreme Court in one of the most important rulings in the history of our Country. Canada has long cheated on Tariffs, charging our farmers as much as 400%. Now they, and other countries, can’t take advantage of the U.S. any longer. Thank you to the Ronald Reagan Foundation for exposing this FRAUD. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!"
