Trump Finally Admits the Truth About How Much His Tariffs Cost

Donald Trump is getting more honest about the impacts of his inconsistent tariff plan.

Speaking to the press inside the Oval Office Thursday, Trump admitted to knowing that his overhaul of America’s trade relationships has come at the cost of American consumers.

“Do you agree then that Americans are paying those tariffs?” asked a reporter.

“I think they might be paying something, but when you take the overall impact, the Americans are gaining tremendously,” Trump said. “Look, I’m ending war because of these tariffs. Americans would have to fight in some of these wars.”

Trump has touted himself for months as a great peacemaker, pushing a narrative that he has—so far—solved eight foreign conflicts. He has claimed responsibility for inventing peace between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda, between Cambodia and Thailand, between Israel and Iran, between India and Pakistan, between Serbia and Kosovo, between Egypt and Ethiopia, between Armenia and Azerbaijan (although he has previously forgotten and said Albania instead of Armenia), between Israel and Gaza, and for “doing the Abraham Accords.”

He has repeatedly cited his tariff plan as the key to solving those wars, even though several of them never existed to begin with.

But it’s not the first time that Trump has fessed to the ramifications of his tariff proposals. During a Cabinet meeting in April, the president acknowledged that his plan would spike prices on American goods, such as children’s toys, though his solution that Americans should simply buy less was as anti-American and anti-capitalist as it was anti-Trumpian. (Some of Barron Trump’s childhood toys included a customized mini Mercedes convertible featuring a “BARRON” license plate, several life-sized stuffed animals, and famously, a Louis Vuitton “soot-case” that reportedly now retails for nearly $10,000.)

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is in the midst of debating the validity of Trump’s tariff plan. Justices on both sides of the ideological fence have expressed their skepticism over the policy, questioning the administration’s foundation to base the legitimacy of the supposedly unrestricted levy power on a vague federal law that has never before been used for this purpose.

If they rule against Trump, it will be the first major break between the conservative-majority court and the president since he was inaugurated in January.

So far, the nation’s highest judiciary seems to share little in common with Trump when it comes to their perspective on the trade plan, apparently disagreeing on even the most basic details, such as the definition of “tariff.”

“Chief Justice Roberts said that tariffs are taxes and that they’re paid by Americans. He said this pretty clearly. And yet you’re saying this money is rolling in from other countries. How do you square those two?” asked a reporter.

“Well, it is. It’s coming in because they charged us,” Trump said. “You know those same countries that you talk about are charging us massive amounts of money.”

He then went on to blame the national debt on imbalanced tariff sheets between America and its trade allies.

“We had presidents who didn’t know how to use tariffs, presidents who had no understanding of business,” Trump said.

Once such prior president would be Ronald Reagan, who became a central figure in Trump’s trade war with Canada last month when Ontario’s provincial government aired an anti-tariff advertisement aimed at Americans. The political advert featured snippets of the conservative icon’s 1987 radio address, in which Reagan argued that tariffs undermine economic prosperity, and that they only serve to “hurt every American.”

An 80-year-old congressman representing suburban Atlanta has not voted in six straight elections, including the 2024 presidential election.

Representative David Scott, a Democrat in Georgia’s 13th district, is facing a primary challenge from state Representative Dr. Jasmine Clark, who discovered Scott’s voting record through a public records request and posted about it on X Thursday.

“Our right to vote is sacred and constantly under attack. I cannot fathom any elected official asking his constituents for their votes every two years without even bothering to go vote himself,” Clark posted, claiming that Scott doesn’t live in the district he represents.

Scott has drawn negative attention this year for appearing to drift in and out of lucidity. In June, he claimed to have attended the film premiere for the movie The Ten Commandments in 1956, when he would have been 11 years old. In February at a congressional hearing, Scott gave a long, incoherent speech about tariffs, going over his allotted time before being cut off.

“You have the president just using these tariffs as a means of fight or like a war. And this is not going to do it. Everybody is not going to be Mexico or Canada,” Scott said at the time. In December of last year, Scott also cursed at a photographer for taking his picture as he was being pushed in a wheelchair outside of the Capitol.

Scott’s reelection campaign for his twelfth term in 2024 drew alarm from his colleagues, staff, and lobbyists, who told Politico that the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee has trouble carrying out detailed conversations and often reads from a script. Since then, Scott has seldom given interviews.

This year, three members of Congress, all Democrats over the age of 70, have passed away: Representatives Gerry Connolly, Sylvester Turner, and Raúl Grijalva. Their absence from the House has aided Republicans’ narrow margin in the chamber. Scott represents a safe Democratic district in Georgia. Perhaps he should follow former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lead and announce his retirement.

A man appeared to collapse Thursday during a press conference to debut a deal to make those drugs more affordable, while President Donald Trump simply looked on.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the daytime talk show host Trump picked to run the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, rushed to help the man to the ground (Oz was a heart doctor before he became a pseudoscience-peddling daytime host). Meanwhile, Trump, who was sitting behind his desk while others ran the show, slowly stood up as he watched the man take to the floor.

As members of the press were quickly ushered out of the room, Trump turned away from the fallen man, staring off into space.

It is unclear who the man is. While some outlets reported that it was Novo Nordisk executive Gordon Findlay, multiple sources told The Washington Post’s Dan Diamond that the man was a patient who uses Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 medication.

CBS journalists Jennifer Jacobs and Aaron Navarro reported that the only two Novo Nordisk executives at the event were CEO Mike Doustdar and Executive Vice President Dave Moore. A spokesperson for Eli Lilly told Navarro that the man was one of their guests.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the man was “okay” and being seen by the White House Medical Unit. Newsmax was quick to report that Trump—who was clearly not involved in the incident at all—was also okay.

Though, Trump didn’t exactly seem up-to-par while dully reading the announcement from his seat.

A senior administration official said that under Trump’s new deal with Novo Nordisk and Elli Lily, weight-loss drugs could have an out-of-pocket cost of between $50 to $350 per month, as opposed to the current list price of more than $1000. However, prices would likely not be significantly cheaper for those whose prescriptions are covered by insurance.

TrumpRx, the president’s scheme to transform the federal government into a pharmacy, is already raising red flags for legal and health experts. They warn that the marketing gimmick isn’t likely to help the average American, and could actually expose private information to a government that clearly doesn’t know how to handle it. Already, other drug companies such as Pfizer and EMD Serono, which produces fertility drugs, have made deals to sell discounted products through TrumpRx, in exchange for being spared from the president’s sweeping tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

This story has been updated.

A federal agent enforcing Donald Trump’s violent mass deportations in Chicago bragged about shooting a woman in text messages to his fellow agents.

The texts were presented at a hearing in federal court Wednesday, where the woman, a U.S. citizen named Marimar Martinez, and another man, Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, faced charges of impeding a federal officer with a deadly weapon. In reality, as captured on video, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent Charles Exum shot Martinez after their cars collided in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood October 4. (The deadly weapon Martinez is accused of brandishing is the car she was driving when Exum crashed into her.)

Martinez said that Exum’s car rammed hers after she was warning the neighborhood’s residents about the presence of federal immigrant agents. Federal prosecutors are claiming that Exum’s actions, including his shooting at Martinez, were done in self-defense. Martinez and Ruiz were indicted October 10.

At the hearing, Exum’s messages from a Signal chat with other agents were shown, in which he said, “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.” He also sent a news article about the incident to a different recipient with the message, “Read it. 5 shots, 7 holes.”

When Martinez’s lawyer Christopher Parente asked Exum in court what he meant, the agent said, “I’m a firearms instructor and I take pride in my shooting skills.”

After the crash and shooting, Exum drove the damaged car, a government-issued Chevrolet Tahoe, to Maine, where his Border Patrol unit is posted, for repairs to be made by a Border Patrol mechanic. The trip took place before any investigation could take place or the defense could examine the damage. Exum allegedly told an FBI interviewer that he had asked for the repairs, while prosecutors later claimed that his supervisor, Kevin Kellenberger, approved them.

To an outside observer, these events seem to show federal agents trying to cover up their own wrongdoing. The events of October 4 resulted in protesters immediately showing up only to be met with tear gas from the agents. Since then, federal agents in Chicago have continued to violently attempt to carry out Trump’s agenda, even ramming more cars in the process and directing their weapons at any protesters who show up.

President Donald Trump can’t convince voters that he’s making life more affordable, so now he’s resorted to lying to Americans about how much Thanksgiving dinner will cost. 

Following sweeping election losses for Republicans Tuesday, it’s never been more clear that the GOP has lost sight of issues that actually matter to Americans—namely, affordability. But rather than address constituents’ actual concerns, Trump took to Truth Social Thursday morning to plug Walmart’s 2025 Holiday Meal as a sign that voters were mistaken about wanting lower prices.

“2025 Thanksgiving dinner under Trump is 25% lower than 2024 Thanksgiving dinner under Biden, according to Walmart. My cost are lower than the Democrats on everything, especially oil and gas! So the Democrats ‘affordability’ issue is DEAD! STOP LYING!!!” Trump wrote. 

But Trump’s claim wasn’t the whole truth, not even sort of. 

Walmart’s 2025 Holiday Meal contains only 15 items, while the company’s 2024 Holiday Meal included 29 items. This year’s basket nixes multiple Thanksgiving staples, including pecan pie, cranberry sauce, whipped cream, mini marshmallows, corn muffin mix, as well as fresh sweet potatoes, celery, and onions. Additionally, many of the name-brand items have been replaced by Walmart’s Great Value items. 

A quick trip to Walmart’s website revealed that while the price of Walmart’s Holiday Meal has decreased due to the removal of items, the actual grocery prices have remained pretty much the same.  

Walmart’s 2024 Holiday Meal served eight people for less than $7 per person, placing the total cost at around $55. According to the retail giant’s website, last year’s haul with this year’s prices would actually cost about $52.43 before sales tax, which totals to about $6.50 per person. 

Walmart CEO John Furner wrote in a statement that Walmart’s 2025 Holiday Meal, which costs a total of $35.51, was 25 percent less than the cost of the 2024 Holiday Meal. The company’s new seasonal offering claims to serve 10 people for less than $4 per person. 

In a meeting with Republican lawmakers Wednesday, Trump reportedly underscored that if they wanted to win elections, they needed to emphasize his economic accomplishments. In his own address about the economy later that day, though, Trump repeatedly strayed off this topic. 

It is hard to believe that the Trump administration actually cares about feeding vulnerable Americans, as the White House has threatened to upend SNAP benefits amid the ongoing government shutdown, agreeing to pay only half for November.