President Donald Trump on Thursday said a trade deal with China has “a ways to go” but could be announced within the next four weeks, and kept up his criticism of the Federal Reserve’s policies as he slammed the New York Times over a story on Robert Mueller’s report.
CHINA DEAL
Trump’s afternoon comments on the China talks came in the Oval Office, after he’d begun the morning by tweeting that they were “moving along nicely.” Trump’s morning remark was in a longer tweet about the U.S. economy, which he said was “looking very strong” in spite of what he called the “unnecessary and destructive actions” taken by the Federal Reserve.
It was Trump’s latest criticism of the U.S. central bank. In a recent interview with Fox Business, Trump said if it weren’t for the decisions of Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues, the U.S. economy would have expanded above a 4% annual rate last year.
Trump said he has decided to nominate Herman Cain, a former Republican presidential candidate, to the Federal Reserve Board. A report from Axios said a formal nomination won’t be made until a background check is completed. Trump has also said he’ll nominate Stephen Moore to the Fed, but the White House has yet to send the nomination to the Senate.
Also read: Trump still livid with Fed despite central bank’s dovish policy shift.
Trump also characterized the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement as proceeding “nicely,” even as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier this week poured cold water on the idea of a speedy vote. The California Democrat said Tuesday the House wouldn’t consider the deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement until after Mexico puts labor-law reforms in place.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.64% closed 0.6% higher Thursday as investors continued to watch trade talks between the U.S. and China. One of the biggest sticking points in the talks is reported to be the U.S. demand that punitive tariffs remain to ensure that China lives up to its commitments in any deal.
Opinion: Why the toughest part of a U.S.-China trade deal remains ahead.
FRESH MEXICO THREAT
While Trump backed off his threats to quickly shut the border with Mexico over undocumented immigration, the president said he wanted that country to halt the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S. in a year or he would impose car tariffs.
“If the drugs don’t stop, we’ll tariff the cars,” Trump said at an event on opportunity zones. “If that doesn’t work, we’ll close the border.” He later said Mexico had done a “great job” at the border in the past four days.
Cars and trucks are the No. 1 import from Mexico, accounting for $64.5 billion last year.
TRUMP BLASTS TIMES
After the New York Times reported that some on special counsel Mueller’s team said his report was more damaging to Trump than Attorney General William Barr revealed, Trump blasted the Times on Twitter, saying the paper “had no legitimate sources.”
The Times’ NYT, +0.33% story said some of Mueller’s investigators had told associates that Barr didn’t adequately portray the findings of their inquiry. It cited government officials and others familiar with investigators’ thinking. According to Barr’s summary, Mueller’s investigation didn’t find evidence Trump’s campaign conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. But Barr also quoted the report as saying it didn’t exonerate Trump on obstruction.
The Washington Post carried a similar story about the Mueller team.
As Trump blasted the Times’ reporting, calls increased for the full Mueller report to be released. Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley reiterated Thursday he supports its release, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for the full report to come out as soon as possible.
Trump also tweeted out a doctored video of Joe Biden’s message apologizing for invading personal space, in which it shows the former vice president giving a shoulder massage to himself.
Current polling indicates Biden would defeat Trump in a head-to-head race.
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