Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you so much for coming. This is our second official influencer briefing here at the White House in the beautiful South Court Auditorium. And as you can tell, in the White House, we are fully embracing new media. Trust in the mass media has fallen to record lows. Tens of millions of Americans are turning elsewhere to get their news and their information.
Good morning, everybody. Happy first 100 days. Before we begin, I want to acknowledge that the bipartisan Take It Down Act passed the House last night. This important legislation was championed and guided through Congress by our wonderful first lady, Melania Trump, including through her direct advocacy on behalf of survivors during her passage -- the passage efforts.
That's why we've welcomed in, openly, independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, content creators and we will continue to do so. President Trump and our White House also believe strongly in the First Amendment, which is why our team has restored the press passes of hundreds of journalists whose passes were wrongly revoked by the Biden administration.
The Take It Down Act criminalizes the publication of non-consensual image -- intimate imagery, and requires social media and similar websites to remove such content within 48 hours of notice from a victim. The first lady thanks all those who voted in favor of this important legislation, and the president looks forward to signing it when it arrives on his desk.
So, thank you all so much for coming today, for your interest in covering the historic achievements of President Trump's first 100 days. And today officially marks 100 days of promises made and kept by President Trump. Our primary focus is how President Trump is in the process of rebuilding the world's greatest economy just like he did in his first term.
Today officially marks 100 days of promises made and promises kept by President Trump. This has truly been the most historic start to a presidency in American history. After building the greatest economy in the world in his first term as president, President Trump is in the process of doing that all over again.
President Trump has created 345,000 jobs since taking office in January. Last month's job report, we saw 100,000 more jobs than economists predicted. It was the fourth highest month for private payroll growth in the past two years. 9,000 manufacturing jobs have been created and added to the economy already since January, and that's in comparison to the 6,000 manufacturing jobs that were lost per month in the final two years of the Biden administration.
The American people trust in President Trump. Since his first day in office, President Trump has focused on defeating the Biden inflation crisis, bringing down the cost of living, and making the United States the best place in the world to do business, invest, create jobs and innovate. And President Trump's efforts are working. 345,000 jobs have already been added since the start of President Trump's term.
So, each month we were losing 6,000 manufacturing jobs; under President Trump, in just 100 days, we've added 9,000. The US unemployment rate remains at historic lows. The labor force participation rate for those without a high school diploma is up, good news for working class American families. And the veteran unemployment rate is down as well to 3.8 percent in March; when we came into office, it was 4.2 percent.
Last month's jobs report saw nearly 100,000 more jobs than economists predicted, and it was the fourth highest month for private payroll growth in the past two years. 9,000 manufacturing jobs have been added to the economy already. This is a sharp contrast to the 6,000 manufacturing jobs that were lost each month in the final two years of the Biden administration.
Remote work among federal employees has fallen over 16 percentage points from March last year to March this year, showcasing the success of President Trump's initiative to bring federal workers back to the office. We know middle class Americans, hard-working people, they have to show up to the office every day.
The US employment rate remains at historic lows. And thanks to President Trump, Americans are seeing price relief for the first time in years. The last inflation report showed the consumer price decline since the COVID pandemic, a decrease in energy prices, and real average hourly wage growth. President Trump is delivering on his promises to lower costs for American families and businesses.
We expect bureaucrats and government workers to do the same, especially when they are living off of the taxpayers' dime. If you want to work on behalf of the American taxpayer, you should show up to work in person. Thanks to President Trump Americans are seeing the first price relief in years. The last inflation report showed the first consumer price decline in years, a decrease in energy prices and real average hourly wage growth.
Prices across the board for everyday goods have seen declines since this president was inaugurated. From airfare to used motor vehicles to prescription drugs, prices are dropping. In fact, last month's drop in the price of prescription drugs was the largest ever recorded. And after Joe Biden botched the response to the bird flu, President Trump and Secretary Rollins' aggressive plan have brought down wholesale egg prices more than 50 percent from Inauguration Day. President Trump ended Joe Biden's reckless war on American energy and fossil fuels, and has restored American energy dominance.
President Trump is delivering on his promises to lower costs for American families and businesses. Prescription drug prices are down. Last month's drop in prescription drug prices was the largest ever recorded. And thanks to President Trump ending Joe Biden's reckless war on American energy, gasoline prices and energy prices are down as well.
And Secretary Wright, Secretary Doug Burgum are working hard on that effort every single day. Oil and gas prices are now way down because of this bold approach. Gasoline price is down 7 percent, energy down -- energy prices are also down as well. The Department of Interior just announced a new offshore drilling policy that will boost oil production in the Gulf of America by 100,000 barrels per day.
The cost of wholesale eggs has decreased more than 50 percent. President Trump inherited a complete mess from the Biden administration who totally botched their response to the bird flu. They were killing chickens. They were killing our chicken supply in this country, which led to an increase in egg prices.
On the deregulation front, President Trump is committed to cutting senseless red tape especially for America's small business owners, who are the backbone of our economy. We know cutting regulation leads to lower costs and higher growth. The mass deregulation effort by this administration will help usher in the Golden Age of America, which is underway.
And the president and Secretary Rollins did an incredible job attacking that on day one. On the deregulation front, President Trump is launching the largest deregulation campaign in American history. He has blocked all of the unfinalized Biden era rules, which has saved us more than $180 billion already.
Immediately upon taking office, President Trump blocked all of the unified -- unfinalized Biden era rules, saving America's more than $100 billion, or 20 -- 100 per family of four over the next decade. And the president also launched a bold multi-agency effort to roll back existing federal regulations that drive up the cost of living on hardworking families.
He's launched a bold multi-agency effort to roll back existing federal regulations that drive up the cost of living on hardworking families. That has yielded more than $7,755 billion in total savings as well. And as you all know, investments from companies around the world continue to pour into this country.
This effort is projected to yield significant cost savings in the coming months, including the EPA's rollback of tailpipe emission rules for light duty and medium duty vehicles and the Department of Transportation's latest corporate average fuel economy standards. These two efforts alone yield $755 billion in total savings, or more than $8,800 per family of four over the next decade.
Every morning, we wake up to a new headline with a new company from a different country announcing major investments in our country. What does that mean for people in your communities across the nation? It means jobs, it means Americans going to work, it means Americans providing for their families, for their children, living the American dream.
In total, the combined savings from all of these actions equal just over $935 billion, or nearly $11,000 in real savings per family of four for the coming decade. The press is not talking nearly enough about the positive impact of President Trump's deregulation campaign, and investments from the biggest companies and countries in the world are pouring in under this president.
That's what those investments will do. It's truly the golden age of America. And that's why the president is working so hard to leverage good trade deals around the world. He knows America is the best place in the world to do business. He is using our leverage to negotiate good deals with countries around the world to onshore manufacturing jobs here, to revitalize our middle class and our manufacturing industry, and also to protect our national security.
So far, total investment commitments under the Trump administration have reached more than $5 trillion, including $500 billion from Apple in US-based manufacturing and training, $500 billion from Nvidia in AI infrastructure, $100 billion from TSMC in US-based chips manufacturing, and the $500 billion private Investment by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank in AI infrastructure as well.
I don't think any American agrees it's good that China currently supplies and produces our chips, our pharmaceuticals and our critical industries. We want the united -- those things built in the United States of America and President Trump is the first president in modern times to actually do something about that.
All of these investment commitments are estimated to generate at least 451,000 new high paying jobs for American workers and families. At this point, President Trump has secured more investments in the United States of America in 100 days than Joe Biden did in four years. President Trump is America's businessman in chief, and that's why these trillions of dollars in investments are flooding to our country.
So, with that said, today is 100 days. There have been so many achievements not just on the economic front, and the president continues to work very hard on tax cuts as well and on negotiating those trade deals. But look at the success at the southern border, which we talked a lot about yesterday with our border czar, Tom Homan, Secretary Kristi Noem, Stephen Miller here at the White House, all of whom are doing a tremendous job and have created, at the president's direction, the most secure border in American history.
The business community is bullish on America because President Trump is back in charge. Tomorrow the president will host CEOs and leaders from several companies that have made these investments to tout their historic commitments to our country and encourage others to follow suit. Under President Trump, there has never been a better time to invest in America.
We have a mass deportation campaign of illegal aliens underway. We are removing heinous criminals from your communities across the country every single day. We are making America safe again. And if you look abroad on the world stage, the president is really using his peace through strength foreign policy approach once again.
And the president finally said enough is enough and refused to allow America and our workers to be ripped off any longer on trade. President Trump implemented powerful tariffs to end the era of economic surrender and to rebalance America's trading agreements. More than 100 countries have already come to the table looking to offer more favorable terms for America and our people.
The rest of the world knows that America is back. I know Joe Biden used to say that, but we're stealing it from him because it's actually true now with President Trump in the Oval Office. The world is a safer place and will continue to be. So, thanks for coming to the influencer briefing. I look forward to taking your questions.
There has never been a president who has created his own leverage like this president, and we are just getting started. Republicans in Congress are getting very close to passing President Trump's one big beautiful bill, which will include the largest tax cuts in American history, strong border security measures, major military advancements, dramatic deregulation and common sense spending reforms.
And Deborah, why don't you kick us off?
As President Trump has said before, the best is yet to come. For more on President Trump's economic successes so far and the plans ahead, I want to pass it off to our incredible Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, who is here today. And we will open it up to questions. In our new media seat, we have Brendan Pedersen, the financial services reporter for Punchbowl News.
So, congratulations on 100 incredible days. And over the first 100 days, the majority of policies that we've seen from the Trump administration have been either targeted at foreign affairs, such as bringing the American hostages home, or attempting to end the war between Ukraine and Russia, or on long-term goals such as cutting government spending with DOGE. What policies can we expect to see rolled out over the next few months that Americans will directly feel the effects of in order to secure the 2026 midterms for the republican party and keep his approval rating historically high?
Punchbowl news covers power, people, and politics based in Washington DC, laser focus on Capitol Hill, the politics of legislating, founded in 2021. And it is the first newsletter that Capitol Hill and the White House reads every morning, in the middle of the day, and throughout the evening. Thanks for being here with us, and we'll start with you today.
Yeah, the first answer that comes to mind, Deborah, is definitely tax cuts. The president is working closely with congress as we speak. He met with leadership from both chambers. The administration met with leadership from both chambers yesterday to talk about how we can quickly pass the largest tax cuts in American history.
Thanks so much for being here. I have a question for Secretary Bessent. On tariffs, the president said over the weekend that we are hoping that maybe tariff revenues could replace income tax, but we also keep hearing about the deals that the administration is pursuing. So, my question is, what is the White House's ultimate objection -- objective here?
And the president promised on the campaign trail, he wanted no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security for our hardworking seniors, no tax on overtime pay. He intends to keep those promises, and he needs congress' help to do so, that's why he's working closely with them. But you look at -- again, I talked about the leverage the president uses to negotiate good trade deals around the world, but he uses that leverage right here in Washington as well on Capitol Hill.
Do you want to have long term tariff revenue or deals that might reduce those tariffs?
He has great relationships with leaders on both chambers and we are confident that we can pass a massive tax bill which will directly lead to more money in people's pockets right away. Sure, go ahead.
I think it's a combination of both. So, we're going to take in long term tariff revenue. We've put a process in place. We have 18 important trading relationships. We will be speaking to all of those partners -- or at least 17 of them the -- over the next few weeks. Many of them have already come to Washington.
Yeah, so the president has really wanted to end the war in Ukraine for a long time now and has been working on that. In the first 100 days, we've seen President Zelenskyy come here, as well as the president meeting with President Zelenskyy just in the last couple of days. I'm wondering where those talks stand and if the president is optimistic that that conflict is going to wrap up shortly.
What President Trump is referring to is the ability for tariff revenue to give income tax relief, and I think there's a very good chance that we will see this in the upcoming tax bill. The president campaigned on no tax on tips, the -- no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime, and the -- restoring interest deductibility for autos -- for American made autos.
The president is optimistic yet realistic about the incredibly complicated and unfortunate situation happening with Ukraine and Russia. First of all, this is Biden's war. It would have never started if President Trump were in office. There is a reason that Putin did not invade Ukraine when President Trump was in the Oval Office.
So, tariff income could be used for tax relief on all those immediately.
And it's because, again, President Trump leveraged the power of the United States to warn Putin not to do it. And the president has spoken about that in those direct warnings to the Kremlin that he gave in his first term. Then we had a mentally incompetent president in Joe Biden who didn't even know what day it is never mind knew how to prevent war.
So, you think that there is a role for significant tariff revenue in US fiscal policy?
And the entire world took advantage of that and took advantage of America's lackluster leadership abroad. And so, we've had this terrible war. The president talks about it all the time. He's briefed on it constantly. There are men dying on the front lines of this, an entire generation is being wiped out and enough is enough.
I -- I think that it is something that got put away a long time ago, and I think that tariffs will bring back American manufacturing and generate substantial revenues.
The president has made it very clear he wants to see this end at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield. He has spoken directly to both sides of this war. He most recently met with President Zelenskyy at the Vatican when he attended the funeral of Pope Francis. And he remains optimistic that both sides will come together to negotiate peace.
On manufacturing, we've seen some pretty grisly surveys this month from the Philly Fed, which saw the biggest drop since May of 2020, and the Dallas Fed, similar plunging outlook, poor shipping orders. What are American manufacturers not understanding about your push for onshoring in the US?
There are a lot of complexities on both sides of this war, but -- and so, he's realistic about that. But he is optimistic that we are moving in the right direction. And if you just take a step back and look at where we are now, where you have concessions from both sides publicly, where you have ceasefire proposals from both sides.
Well, I -- I think -- I was in the investment business 35 years, and I learned to ignore the survey data and look -- or the surveys, look at the actual data. And the actual data has been quite good. The job data is good. Americans keep spending. And as Karoline said, we have these incredible commitments to bring manufacturing back on shore, with record investment by domestic corporations and foreigners who want to come into the U.S.
The president has made it clear he wants a permanent ceasefire first. But you actually have the United States talking to Russia. You have the United States talking to the Ukrainians on a daily basis, communicating with both sides. Look at that compared to where we were when we came into office, where neither side was talking.
Weija?
There was just one approach to ending this war. No one was really talking about a peace deal. We were just talking about continuing to send blank checks to continue funding the fighting and the killing. This war has been a meat grinder, young men are dying, women and children are dying as a collateral result of the military conflict.
Thank you so much, Karoline. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. The Chinese continue to say that the US and Chinese are not engaged in any consultation or negotiation on tariffs. You recently said you've talked to your counterpart, but more about, quote, traditional things like financial stability. So, can you clarify?
And the president wants to see it end as quickly and as soon as possible. And I can tell you watching firsthand, he has exuded a tremendous amount of effort into this war. He's getting frustrated with the amount of effort this has taken, and he's made that clear to both sides, but he remains optimistic that we can get this done.
Is the administration talking to Beijing specifically about tariffs or not?
Brendan?
Well, we're not going to talk about who's talking to whom. But I think that, you know, over time we will see that the Chinese tariffs are unsustainable for China. I saw -- I've seen some very large numbers over the past few days that show, if these numbers stay on, Chinese could lose 10 million jobs very quickly and, even if there is a drop in the tariffs, that they could lose five million jobs.
I was wondering if you'd indulge me in a quick round of Trump trolling or Trump truthing.
So, remember that we are the deficit country. They sell almost five times more goods to us than we sell to them. So, the onus will be on them to the -- take off these tariffs. They're unsustainable for them.
Sure, let's do it. I love it.
And they are saying you guys are not talking about it. So, is that true?
OK, good. Rapid fire. Greenland joining America.
Well, they have a different form of government. They're playing to a different audience. So, I'm not going to get into the nitty-gritty, again, of who's talking to whom. But as I said, I believe, for the Chinese, these tariffs are unsustainable.
Definitely Trump truthing.
And very quickly, two days ago you said you didn't know if President Trump had spoken to Xi Jinping. Do you know now?
Canada becoming a 51st state.
Again, I would say Karoline and I have a lot of jobs around the White House. Running the switchboard isn't one of them.
Trump truthing all the way, and the Canadians would benefit greatly, let me tell you that.
Bloomberg, go ahead.
Eliminating the IRS?
Secretary Bessent, thank you so much for being here this morning. You've talked about the importance of giving investors certainty when it comes to the market, yet the Trump administration is -- is continuing to negotiate several complex trade deals in a very sort of compressed time frame. When do you -- when do you expect you'll be able to give the market some certainty around those deals?
I think that is an optimistic goal and the president -- so I would say we're on the side of truthing there for sure. And the president again wants to see tax cuts and he wants to see this massive revenue that we can gain from tariffs as well, which will create the external revenue service. So, that's a definitive goal for sure.
Do you have a deadline? Is it the 90 day pause? What are we looking at here?
And most importantly, Trump 2028 [Laughter].
Good question, and I -- I think one thing that has been a little disconcerting for the markets is, you know, President Trump creates what I would call strategic uncertainty in the negotiations. So, he is more concerned about getting the best possible trade deals for the American people. You know, we had four years of bad deals, four decades the -- of unfair trading, and we are going to the -- unwind those and make them fair.
Trump trolling, although the hats are flying off the shelves. Yes. Link, go ahead.
What we are doing is we've created a process. I think the aperture of uncertainty will be narrowing. And as we start moving forward announcing deals, then there will be certainty. But, you know, it -- certainly is not necessarily a good thing in negotiating.
So, one thing I've noticed in the first 100 days is that the White House is crawling with kids. You have a young, beautiful baby boy, there are babies everywhere. There are so many young folks on staff who have kids. But the last four years under Joe Biden, parents were really stressed and ravaged; they had to take on two or three extra jobs.
Mr. Secretary, last night there were -- there were reports on the administration sort of walking back a little bit on the auto tariffs. Can you sort of just elaborate on that decision there and what we can expect going forward, and why sort of the shift in those auto tariffs?
Depression rates were up, suicide rates were up. You're a very high profile, young mother who seems to juggle and balance it all beautifully. What advice do you have to young parents out there who are starting their careers, having kids, building families and trying to find that balance so desperately?
Well, President Trump has had meetings with both domestic and foreign -- excuse me, foreign auto producers, and he's committed to bringing back auto production to the US. So, we want to give the automakers a path to do that quickly, efficiently and create as many jobs as possible.
Yeah, well, it's a great question. And first to the heart of your premise -- it's true, the president has empowered not just me as a young mother in this role, but there are so many new moms and dads on our senior staff in the West Wing, but also across the entire administration. There are working moms and dads who are owing our country public service for President Trump while raising young families.
Jasmine?
And the president really empowers us to do that, and I commend him for that. He doesn't get enough credit for it. But as for -- the president is implementing policies every day to uplift young families and young people. He talks so much about young people and talked directly to young people so much on the campaign trail.
Thank you so much, Karoline. Thank you, Secretary. Back on China, does the administration anticipate -- anticipate supply chain shocks or supply shocks coming now that cargo shipments from China are significantly down? And if so, are there being plans -- or are there plans in the process of how to address that?
It really, I think, inspires him when he is around young people and a young audience. And he wants to restore the American dream for the next generation, not just our generation of young folks, but our children and our grandchildren. What does that look like? Homeownership, the ability to afford a home, to live -- to have a good paying job.
I -- I wouldn't think that we would have supply chain shocks and I think, retailers, they have managed their inventory in front of this. I speak to dozens of companies, sometimes daily, but definitely weekly, and they know that President Trump is committed to fair trade and have planned accordingly.
That's part of this effort to onshore jobs because you have an entire generation going to these incredibly expensive and liberal higher education universities coming out saddled with debt and then unable to get a good paying job. The president wants to put an end to that so that young people can provide for their families and truly live the American dream.
And then second question, can you outline the timeline for when you think some of these deals, particularly with your Asian countries like India, Japan, South Korea, you may have an announcement?
So, to young people around the country, the president hears you, he sees you, he loves you and he wants to uplift you. And all of the policies he is implementing every day are to provide a more prosperous and safe and free America for future generations. You're welcome. Sure. Hi, you too.
I'm glad you brought up our Asian trading partners and allies. They have been the most forthcoming in terms of doing the deals. As I mentioned, Vice President Vance was in India last week. I think that he and Modi made some very good progress, so I could see some announcements on India. I could see the contours of a deal with the Republic of Korea coming together, and then we've had substantial talks with the Japanese.
Thanks, Karoline, so much for the time. Tag teaming off of Link's question about young people, one of the most pressing challenges for Gen Z right now is the lack of home ownership. As of 2025, I believe the median age is 38 years old of first-time home buyers, which is a hindrance to starting families for a lot of people.
Andrea.
How does the Trump administration plan on tackling this in the next four years?
Yeah. Secretary Bessent, just continuing on the path of the sort of progress. You said yesterday, I think that it was, it could happen as early as this week or possibly next week. Can you give us a bit of a timetable? And then I wanted to ask about South Korea specifically. They've said that they probably won't be able to make a comprehensive deal until early July because of their elections.
It's a major issue, as you mentioned, that's directly impacting young people and young families. And the president is, I think, tackling it head on already. The reason that homes have become so unaffordable is because of the massive inflation crisis caused by the previous administration, not just the cost of a home, but everything that goes into building a new home went up and through the roof, right?
Japan also has elections. To what extent are domestic factors complicating your efforts? Canada just had an election. Are you seeing that you might have to think about delaying the 90 days?
We also saw mortgage rates reach incredible highs under the previous administration. So, a few things. The president wants to bring down the cost of living, which he is already doing, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, which will increase our supply of homes across the country. But he also wants to bring down mortgage rates and interest rates to make it easier for young people and all people to borrow money, to take out those loans, to buy your first home.
Well, I would actually take the opposite tack, that I think from our talks, that these governments actually want to have the framework of a trade deal done before they go into elections to show that they have successfully negotiated with the United States. So we are finding that they are actually much more keen to come to the table, get this done and then go home and campaign on it.
And so, we've got to increase the supply, bring down costs and bring down interest rates and mortgage rates. And by the way, those are all things the president successfully did in his first term. When he left office inflation was a record low 1.4 percent. Interest rates, mortgage rates also hit record lows in his first term.
Sean.
So, this is a proven economic formula that works. It takes time to get there. We are in the process of the golden age. The president and the admin are slashing regulation every day, cutting red tape, cutting costs, and we need, again, congress to pass those tax cuts to put more money back in people's pockets, so they have greater purchasing power as well.
I'm sorry. Did you have a comment on whether something could happen this week or next week?
You're welcome. Sure.
For?
[Inaudible] with Independent Women and WMAL.
For a deal. So you said yesterday --
Oh, great.
Again, I think that we are very close on India. And in India, just a little inside baseball, India, in a funny way, is easier to negotiate with than many other countries because they have very high tariffs and lots of tariffs. So it's much easier to confront the direct tariffs as we go through these unfair trade deals that have been put in over decades, that the non-tariff trade barriers can be much more insidious and also harder to detect.
We love working with the administration to really tout policies that work for families and work for small businesses in this country. Next week is Small Business Week and I know that the SBA will be championing all the small businesses, the millions in this country, almost half of which are women owned. But I'd love to find out what the president feels about independent contractors who are not typical W-2 employees, not 9 to 5 workers, but who hang their own shingle, they're 1099 workers.
So a country like India which has the posted and ready tariffs, it's much easier to negotiate with them. So I think the India negotiations are moving well.
We saw the Biden administration really try to crack down on that small business entrepreneurial spirit. And we're hopeful that the administration would overturn what the Biden administration did and maybe even work with congress to pass some lasting changes, codify some lasting changes that would protect your ability to be self-employed, your ability to be a small business owner.
Sean, go ahead.
Well, the president is a businessman at heart himself, right. He's a real estate developer and I think that's a large reason the American people elected him the first time and the second time, because they trust in him. And small businesses are the backbone of our American economy. I come from a small business family myself and the president knows what small business families need and independent contractors need, entrepreneurs need -- you need less government in the way, you need less regulation.
Hi, Mr. Secretary. So it was reported this morning that Amazon will soon display a little number next to the price of each product that shows how much the Trump tariffs are adding to the cost of each product. So isn't that a perfect, crystal-clear demonstration that it's the American consumer and not China, who is going to have to pay for these policies?
You need low energy costs, low taxes, a low cost of living, a low cost of goods. And that's exactly what the president is focused on doing, while simultaneously effectively leveraging tariffs to protect our middle class and our working class and our manufacturing base. Look at our auto industry, think about Michigan, it used to be the heartland of the auto industry of the world.
I will take this since I just got off the phone with the president about Amazon's announcement. This is a hostile and political act by Amazon. Why didn't Amazon do this when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years? And I would also add that it's not a surprise because as Reuters recently wrote, Amazon has partnered with a Chinese propaganda arm.
It was the auto capital of the world. And unfortunately, so many of those jobs have gone overseas. And so, the president wants to protect good paying jobs here at home and unleash the might of our economy for small business owners. And that removes -- that includes removing red tape and cutting taxes. And as for independent contractors and what the president would hope to do with congress, we'll definitely check back in on that and get you an answer because it's an important question.
So this is another reason why Americans should buy American. It's another reason why we are onshoring critical supply chains here at home to shore up our own critical supply chain and boost our own manufacturing here.
You're welcome. Sure.
Is Jeff Bezos still a Trump supporter?
Will Upton, the National Pulse. You kind of gave us an overview of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, 100 days in. What would the next steps look like though if we don't reach an agreement by, say, the summer? And also, can you give us an update on the rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine? And is there any kind of response from the administration to Greenlandic Foreign Minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, some of her comments about maybe seeking aid with China.
Look, I will not speak to the President's uh relationships with Jeff Bezos, but I will tell you that this is certainly a hostile and political action by Amazon, and Secretary, if you have anything to add.
Sure, to your first question about the critical minerals deal, the president is confident that will be signed. Ukraine needs to sign it; they should sign it. It's not just good for the United States to recoup the billions of tax dollars we've spent and onshore some of those critical minerals, but certainly it's good for the Ukrainian people when this war is over to rebuild their country.
Yeah. I would also add that bringing down the terrible Biden inflation has been a priority for the first 100 days of the Trump administration. And President Trump has done a great job of leading that. Since January 20th, interest rates, mortgage rates are down. Gasoline and energy prices are down. We're expecting the further decreases.
It's an economic partnership between the United States and Ukraine. That's what the president envisions, and he wants Ukraine to sign that deal. He's confident that they will. As for what it would look like later down the road, I don't want to get ahead of the president, obviously. But again, I will reiterate he's increasingly grown frustrated at the amount of time.
And as Karoline said, the big tax on consumers that goes unnoticed is deregulation, or regulation, and we are deregulating and bringing that down. So from a household income point of view, we would expect real purchasing increases that we've seen them over the first hundred days and we would expect that to accelerate.
Our secretary of state recently said there's not much more time or effort the United States has to give to this effort. And so, we need both sides to come to the table to negotiate. As for Greenland, it's -- I hadn't seen those comments. If true, I'm sure they are -- certainly an interesting strategy to cozy up to communist China.
We are doing peace deals, trade deals, tax deals and deregulating and deregulation is a longer lead time, but I think by the third and fourth quarter, that's really going to kick in.
Greenland needs the United States of America. We subsidize their national security and their defense. And the president has rightfully pointed out the great strategic importance that Greenland serves for not just our national security and economic interests, but for our country and for the world as a whole.
Kelly, go ahead.
And we can't allow Chinese or Russian influence to continue to infiltrate places like Greenland or the Panama Canal, I may add. To the back.
Thank you, Karoline. A question for you and Secretary Bessent. We talk a lot about volatility and uncertainty in the marketplace and the president has stated all along that he's more concerned about mainstream America, the American worker. You just talked about deregulation and this entire fair trade and reciprocals.
Can you talk about the importance of a stock market all-time high, specifically in relation to the midterms? And seems like a lot of folks, when Trump was elected, they thought that the stock market goes up. He really cares about that. He uses it as a measurement of the economy. It's gone down, but it's still up over the last 12 months or so. So, how much of that is playing into some of the economic policy decisions?
What is your message to the American people in terms of letting them get through this disturbance and the outcome being greater and a greater good for the American worker, the American people, the American families?
I think the president has spoken on this, he said the stock market gets yippy, but he doesn't get yippy. He trusts in his economic agenda and formula, obviously. And Wall Street made out very well in President Trump's first term. President Trump also wants to look out for Main Street and do what's best for both.
I would say trust in President Trump. There is a reason he was reelected to this office. It's because of the historic success of his economic formula in the first term. And as I laid out at the beginning of the briefing and the secretary has talked about, and the president talks about every day, there's a proven formula that works, massive deregulation, energy independence and tax cuts which are coming.
So, I think the president right now, his main focus, what drives him to make decisions is what's best for the working-class Americans, for the American worker, for the small business owner, for American families. And he's trying to correct the wrongs of the last several decades, not just the last four years with the economic and inflation nightmare caused by the Biden administration, but of the unfair trade practices that have ripped off our country for a very long time.
And the secretary is working very hard on that with our counterparts on Capitol Hill, if you want to talk about that. That's a huge deal to put more money back into the pockets of hardworking Americans. As for the fair-trade deals the president is trying to negotiate, he's not just righting the wrong of the mess that he inherited from the past four years of the Biden administration, this is a mess that has been created for the past four decades, that has sold out the middle class, that has moved jobs overseas.
So, look, the stock market goes up, it goes down, but President Trump has a goal, he has a vision and he's remaining very much committed to that. Thank you so much, everybody, for joining today. We're heading off to Michigan tonight for a big rally. So, I'm sure we'll see all of your amazing creative content on social media later.
You think about our heartland, middle America, what towns used to look like, what they look like today. President Trump wants to restore the golden age and it's a process to do that. And that process is underway, but he's put together a fantastic trade team, Secretary Bassett, Secretary Lutnick, Jamison Greer, all working incredibly hard on this effort, 24/7. But tax cuts are coming and that's key.
It's going to be a great speech and maybe you'll get a Trump dance too. So, thank you so much for coming today. It's a pleasure to have you here. Thank you.
And Mr. Secretary, why don't you talk a little bit about that.
Yeah. So it's really a three-legged stool in the economic policy. It's trade, it's tax and it's deregulation. So we are in the midst of addressing, as Karoline said, these long-term trade imbalances. The tax bill is going much better than I would have thought when I took office on January 28th, and that's through President Trump's leadership, that Speaker Johnson Leader Thune are united.
Speaker Johnson, we had a very good meeting yesterday with something called the Big Six, NEC director Kevin Hassett, myself, Speaker, Johnson, Leader Thune, Committee Chairman Jason Smith and Senator Crapo, and the tax bill is moving forward. It is going to give permanence to the 2017 Tax Cuts. And Jobs Act, which will, back to the question on certainty, it will give American business certainty.
It will give American people certainty. And then President Trump is also adding the things for working Americans that I talked about earlier, no tax and tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, making auto payments deductible. So that will substantially address the affordability crisis. And the other thing that I would note, and back to data, is that they have Vanguard, one of the largest money management firms in America, said that over the past 100 days, 97 percent of Americans haven't done a trade.
And in fact, individual investors have held tight while institutional investors have panicked. So individual investors trust -- individual investors trust President Trump.
Megan, in the back.
Thank you both. Can you detail for us exactly what we should expect as far as relief on the auto tariffs front? And then further, Mr. Secretary, should we expect other industries to also get relief the way we've now seen for auto and tech as well?
I'm not going to go into the details of the auto tariff relief, but I can tell you that it will go substantially toward reshoring American auto manufacturing. And again, the goal here is to bring back the high-quality industrial jobs to the US. President Trump is interested in the jobs of the future, not the jobs of the past.
We don't need to necessarily have a booming textile industry like where I grew up, again, but we do want to have precision manufacturing and bring that back. And another important, very important function of this that does not get talked about enough is national security. President Trump, his overriding the concern and belief is that economic security is national security -- national security is economic security.
And we saw during COVID that our supply chains got cut off. And we need to bring back a lot of those supply chains, whether it's in semiconductors, medicines, the steel. And we have to onshore those. So, it's a combination of making trade free and fair and remedying this gaping national security hole that he was left with.
And if I could on --
I would just add, Megan, the president will sign the executive order on auto tariffs later today, and we will release it as we always do. Go ahead.
Secretary, any updates on the negotiations with the European Union? And is it hard to negotiate with the European Union?
Pardon?
Do you have any updates on the negotiations with the European Union?
I'm more involved the -- in the Asian negotiations. My observation would be -- goes all the way back to Henry Kissinger's statement, when I call Europe, who do I call? So, we're negotiating with a lot of different interests. Some of the European countries have put on an unfair digital service tax on our big internet provider.
France and Italy, other countries, Germany and Poland don't have that. So, we -- we want to see that unfair tax of one of America's great industries removed. So, it's going to be a give and take. So, they have some internal matters to decide before they can engage in an external negotiation.
Edward?
Thanks, Caroline. Mr. Secretary, so contacts I have in the business community say that they're -- they're basically frozen for long term investment because of the uncertainty around tariffs. How long do you think President Trump has to make a deal before there's damage to the economy?
Look, I -- I think that what we're seeing is that business leaders, they've -- they've gone into a pause. And I think we're going to give them great certainty on this tax bill. And I think over the next couple of weeks -- as I said, we have 18 important trading relationships. We'll put China to the side, 17. They are in motion.
And then as I said yesterday, I think there's a very good chance we're going to get this tax bill done. And the tax bill is going to be very powerful for domestic US investment. So, what we are going to do -- one of the most powerful parts of President Trump's 2017 tax bill was full expensing of equipment.
We are going to make that -- as President Trump said in his speech to Congress, that will be retroactive to January 20th. The other thing that we are looking to add is full expensing for factories. So, bring your factory back, you can fully expense the equipment and the building. We will couple that with deregulation, cheap energy, and regulatory certainty, and that will continue to make the US the greatest destination for domestic and foreign investment.
And the president --
And just a hard --
If I could follow up just -- the president said that world leaders would like to meet with him in Rome and Vatican -- in Vatican City, I'm sorry, about trade. Other than President Zelenskyy, who did the president meet with and -- about trade? And when could we get some of those deals?
The president met with President Zelenskyy, as you know, which we talked about. And the president continues to be engaged with his fellow foreign leaders -- or his fellow leaders around the world and the European Union. You've seen many of them visit the White House. I want to harp on, in closing, the point the secretary just made.
On the campaign trail, the president promised the American public that he was going to make America the best country in the world to do business again, the lowest taxes, lowest regulation, lowest energy costs of anywhere in the world. And if you do business in the United States, you won't pay a tariff. You won't pay a price.
That's not just good for companies around the world, but it's good for the American worker. That's what this team is focused so hard on every day. We have work to do. The Golden Age of America is underway. But as I pointed out in the beginning, there's a lot of reason for the American consumer, the American CEO, the American small business owner to be confident and optimistic about this president and where we're headed.
So, you will hear more from the president himself. Later this evening, he is traveling to Michigan, as you all know. He'll make a stop at the Air Force base with Governor Whitmer. And then we will head to a rally tonight, where you'll hear more from him directly. So, we'll see you in Michigan. Thank you, guys.