Politico White House reporter Megan Messerly joins “Early Start” to discuss President Donald Trump threatening more countries with tariffs of up to 30%.

Washington

Donald Trump has signed an order to impose tariffs imports into the U.S. from countries including China, Mexico and Canada.

Global Tariffs

President Donald Trump has announced a 50% tariff on copper imports and has threatened additional tariffs of up to 30% on various countries. According to Politico reporter Megan Messerly, Trump views tariffs as a tool for both protecting domestic industries and exerting pressure on foreign governments to achieve political outcomes.

The administration's strategy includes sector-specific tariffs, such as those on pharmaceuticals and automobiles, as well as targeted measures against countries like Brazil. These actions reflect Trump's longstanding belief that the United States has been disadvantaged in international trade, and he is using tariffs as a means to address these perceived imbalances.

Politico reporter: How Trump views tariffs as leverage

I want to start with tariffs. You know, another day, another set of letters from President Trump to various countries making threats of new tariff rates, as we saw there. Late last night, Trump also formally announced a 50% tariff on copper imports. I know you've been covering this issue closely, and I wonder if you could just take us inside the president's head on all of this. What is he hoping will happen in the big picture? What is the White House's strategy? The biggest thing, I think, to think about here is how the president really views tariffs as leverage and how he views them as, one, related to trade and protecting domestic industry, but he also views it as a cudgel to get his way with foreign governments. If you remember, this whole reciprocal tariff battle started because of his longstanding belief that the U.S. has been ripped off by other countries. Those are the words he's used, right, for decades. And so I think that's exactly what we're seeing here, but at the same time, we're seeing efforts as well to really go after copper, like you mentioned, go after pharmaceutical imports, auto tariffs, right? There's these sectoral-based tariffs as well that are a little bit more industry-focused. And then, as you just mentioned, you know, the new tariffs on Brazil really aimed at exacting a political outcome in a foreign country, and so we're really seeing it here as this unprecedented leverage on a foreign government for the president to get his way.

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Politico reporter: How Trump views tariffs as leverage

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