Trump Says He ‘Can’t Guarantee’ Tariffs Won’t Hurt US Consumers

In his first interview with a major TV network since winning the election, President-elect Donald Trump said this weekend that although he does not believe that tariffs on imports result in higher costs in the U.S. economy, he can’t guarantee that his proposed tariffs aimed at some of the country’s leading trade partners won’t raise prices for American consumers.

Trump has spoken extensively about using tariffs as an all-purpose tool to punish competitors, create jobs, shrink the deficit and raise funds to pay for new government programs, and in his interview with Kristen Welker of NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” he made it clear that he plans to push ahead on his proposals, which include major new tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China.

“I’m a big believer in tariffs,” he told Welker. “I think tariffs are the most beautiful word. I think they’re beautiful. It’s going to make us rich.”

When Welker noted that “economists of all stripes say that ultimately consumers pay the price of tariffs,” Trump rejected the widely accepted idea. “I don’t believe that,” he said.

At the same time, Trump said he couldn’t promise that prices won’t rise.

“Can you guarantee American families won’t pay more?” Welker asked.

“I can’t guarantee anything,” Trump replied. “I can’t guarantee tomorrow. But I can say that if you look at my — just pre-Covid, we had the greatest economy in the history of our country.”

Welker pressed him on the issue, saying “Sir, your previous tariffs during your first administration cost Americans some $80 billion, and now you have major companies from Walmart, Black & Decker, AutoZone, saying that any tariffs are going to force them to drive up prices for their consumers. How do you make sure that these CEOs, that these companies don’t, in fact, pass on the cost of tariffs to their consumers?”

Trump stuck to his guns: “They cost Americans nothing,” he insisted. He then underscored the idea that tariffs have multiple uses — including preventing war. “I have stopped wars with tariffs by saying, ‘You guys want to fight, it’s great. But both of you are going to pay tariffs to the United States at 100%.’” Trump provided no further details.

Trump said he won’t cut Social Security: Although some Republican lawmakers are indicating that the new “DOGE” cost-cutting effort led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy could include cuts to Social Security, Trump reiterated that he has no plans to cut the popular entitlement program. “I said to people, we’re not touching Social Security, other than we make it more efficient. But the people are going to get what they’re getting,” Trump said. “And we’re not raising ages or any of that stuff.”

Still, he may have to wrangle with some members of his own party over the issue. Rep. Mark Alford, a Republican from Missouri, told Fox Business Network on Monday that entitlement programs will be on the table as GOP lawmakers and outside advisers try to hash out a plan for massive spending cuts.

“We all agree this is an unsustainable area that we’re in right now — almost $36 trillion in debt, and we are spending more on the interest on our debt than we are going to spend on the National Defense Authorization Act this year,” Alford told Fox’s Maria Bartiromo. “And so we’ve got to right the ship, and it’s going to mean cuts. It’s going to mean cuts to the 24 percent of the discretionary spending that we have, and it’s also going to mean looking long-term at the front end of some programs like Social Security and Medicare.”