WASHINGTON ― First it was fewer dolls. Now it’s fewer pencils.
President Donald Trump reiterated his view that American children don’t need so many personal possessions ‒ pencils were his latest example ‒ as he defended his universal tariffs on imports that could spike the prices of many goods, particularly imports from China.
Trump, during an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that aired May 4, dug in on a scenario he introduced days before ‒ that little girls in the United States might need to accept having fewer dolls.
“I don’t think that a beautiful baby girl needs – that’s 11 years old – needs to have 30 dolls,” Trump told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker. “I think they can have three dolls or four dolls because what we were doing with China was just unbelievable. We had a trade deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars with China.”
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Then Trump suggested children are capable of cutting back on a basic school supply: pencils.
“No, I’m not saying that,” Trump when asked whether Americans can expect to see empty store shelves in the future. “I’m just saying they don’t need to have 30 dolls. They can have three. They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.”
Nonetheless, Trump disputed that his comments should be interpreted as an acknowledgement that prices for Americans are going to increase as a result of his sweeping universal tariff on products imported to the United States.
“No. I think tariffs are going to be great for us because it’s going to make us rich,” Trump said.
The Trump administration has imposed tariffs totaling 145% on imports from China. Ten percent baseline tariffs on most other countries remain in effect, even though Trump delayed steeper reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, in addition to 25% tariffs on foreign automobiles, steel and aluminum.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said last week Trump’s message regarding dolls is that Americans will be “willing to pay more for a better-made American product” that face higher regulatory standards than a poorly constructed “doll from China that might have, say, lead paint in it.”
Trump, in his “Meet the Press” interview, downplayed economic anxieties caused by his tariffs, saying that everything would be “OK” even if the U.S. enters a recession in the short term.
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As the Trump administration negotiates trade deals with more than 170 countries, Trump also did not rule out the possibility that some of the tariffs could be permanent.
“No, I wouldn’t do that because if somebody thought they were going to come off the table, why would they build in the United States?” Trump said.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump, defending tariffs, says kids don’t need so many dolls, pencils
