In the Oval Office on Thursday, President Donald Trump called the slowdown of imports at U.S. ports in the wake of his tariffs — especially on China — a “good thing.” When a reporter mentioned that thousands of dockworkers and truckdrivers are now worried about their jobs, the President said: “That means we lose less money…when you say it slowed down, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”
Reporter: “The ports here in the U.S., the traffic has really slowed.”
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) May 8, 2025
Trump: “That's good.”
Reporter: “Now thousands of dock workers and truck drivers are worried about their jobs.”
Trump: “…When you say it slowed down, that's a good thing, not a bad thing.” pic.twitter.com/hWd2xfZthJ
Stephanie Ruhle, host of MSNBC’s The 11th Hour, responded on X by writing: “I just sent this to every wall st source I have that supported our President. Trump on US port traffic slowing down: ‘It’s a good thing-not a bad thing.’ ‘That means we lose less money.’ Every response I got was some sort of embarrassed emoji.”
I just sent this to every wall st source I have that supported our President.
— Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) May 8, 2025
Trump on US port traffic slowing down:
“It’s a good thing-not a bad thing.” “That means we lose less money.”
Every response I got was some sort of embarrassed emoji.
Economist Joseph Brusuelas, member of the Wall Street Journal forecast panel, replied to Ruhle: “Which one of them gets to explain to him that the non-arrival of inputs just adds fuel to the fire of US industrialization. The sun is setting on our empire.”
Fellow MSNBC economics contributor Ron Insana also responded to Ruhle: “$5 billion in increased exports to the U.K. … it’s $27 trillion economy … and tariffs on U.K. goods go from 3.4% to 10%. Interesting deal.”
