Trump claims ‘200’ tariff deals, phone call with Chinese President Xi in wide-ranging interview
Win McNamee/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, in a wide-ranging interview with Time magazine published Friday, claimed he’s already “made 200 deals” on tariffs and said he’s spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In the cover story, in which Trump’s discussed his first 100 days in office, the president was asked about White House trade adviser Peter Navarro’s prediction of “90 deals in 90 days.”
“I’ve made 200 deals,” Trump said. When asked to confirm that number, Trump said “100%.”
Trump, though, would not elaborate on what countries he’s solidified deals with or the terms. He’s met with various foreign officials at the White House in recent weeks on tariffs and other economic issues, but had not yet announced any agreements.
“I would say, over the next three to four weeks, and we’re finished, by the way,” Trump told Time. “We’ll be finished.”
On the issue of China — which faces the highest tariff rate from the administration — Trump said President Xi has called him.
“He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Trump said,
The White House in recent days has softened its stance on China, telling reporters that talks with Beijing were moving in the right direction. But Chinese officials, before Trump’s Time interview was published, disputed the White House’s characterization.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Thursday called the administration’s claims active discussions were happening “fake news.” On Friday, the Jiakun said “China and the United States have not consulted or negotiated on the tariff issue” and “the United States should not confuse the public.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — After a month of fits and starts, a final hammer came down on the U.S. Agency for International Development on Wednesday night when the State Department, which had previously said it was going to review all foreign aid, announced that review was over and it had decided to terminate nearly 10,000 government contracts worth about $60 billion in humanitarian work abroad.
The cancellations left aid organizations reeling Thursday.
Many, for weeks, had been advocating behind closed doors for their projects to continue and applying for waivers in order to deliver immediate, lifesaving aid while the review process was underway. Several organizations on Thursday decided to start to speak out as they face a future with almost all U.S. foreign aid cut off.
“Any type of communicable disease, I think we will see rage rampant. I think we will see increased conflict in the world. I think we will see increased terrorism in the world. And so, I think, the implications are going to be really dire in terms of the instability that this creates in already very unstable regions of the world,” said Jocelyn Wyatt, CEO of Alight, an international organization that provides food, medicine and services for refugees in 20 countries around the world.
Like all international aid organizations, four days after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Alight was told to suspend all programming funded through U.S. grants and contracts.
Wyatt described scrambling to keep her organization’s health care clinics afloat. They had to shutter programs in Uganda and Myanmar but were able to secure waivers from the State Department for lifesaving humanitarian aid to keep their operations going in Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan.
But as of Thursday, all of Alight’s U.S. contracts have been canceled going forward, even contracts related to those programs that had received waivers to continue in the last few weeks.
Now, Wyatt said Alight is closing 33 health care clinics in Sudan, many in areas where they were the only health care provider, as well as water and sanitization services in three refugees camps in the country and another 13 clinics in Somalia.
According to Wyatt, their clinics see 1,200 people a day in Somalia alone, including about 700 malnourished children a day at designated feeding centers where the children get weighed and provided with supplemental food.
“We are unable to provide any services to those severely malnourished children, and so it’s really a matter of days or weeks before many of them will die,” she told ABC News during an interview Thursday. “The toll, the human lives that will be lost, is unfathomable.”
Thursday appeared to be a watershed moment for humanitarian leaders who, so far, had been reticent to speak put publicly out of concern that their organizations could face backlash or see grants and contracts suffer.
David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, called the termination of contracts “a devastating blow.”
“These are people who depend on the U.S.-funded services for the basics of survival. These programs are not just numbers on a spreadsheet; they represent real lives and real futures,” he wrote in a statement, calling on the U.S. government to reconsider. “The countries affected by these cuts — including Sudan, Yemen, Syria — are home to millions of innocent civilians who are victims of war and disaster. We now face the starkest of stark choices about which services can be protected, and are calling on the American public, corporations and philanthropists to show that America’s generosity of spirit and commitment to the most vulnerable has not been lost.”
“We are no longer the shining city on a hill,” one humanitarian leader, who requested to speak anonymously out of fear of retribution for his organization, said to ABC News in an interview Thursday.
“It seems cruelty is the point. This is not about putting America first. This will kill people around the world,” the leader added.
While aid organizations expected a review of their work with the new administration, the scope and scale of the cuts have been shocking and will mean many aid organizations will be forced to dramatically cut their work or shutdown all together.
The termination notices were included in a court filing late Wednesday as leading aid organizations sued the federal government over nearly $2 billion in past payments they say they are owed for work already completed during the first part of this year.
The filing stated that almost 5,800 USAID awards for future work, and approximately 4,100 distributed through the State Department, will be terminated, while around 500 USAID awards and roughly 2,700 State Department awards will be retained.
Alight typically relies on U.S. foreign aid dollars for about 30% of their revenue and they have already had to lay off hundreds of staff members as they also wait for payments due from the U.S. federal government for work previously done.
Still, Wyatt said her organization will survive and worries about others that will not as well as the impact it will have on the people they serve.
Despite the turmoil of the last few weeks, she was reticent to speak publicly out of a concern that her organization and the clients they serve, could be impacted and retaliated against.
She said she understands the new administration’s push to evaluate taxpayer spending and foreign aid and that she was prepared to undergo an evaluation of their organization and make sure it aligned with Trump’s American First foreign policy.
But now that all of her contracts have been cancelled, Wyatt hopes to raise awareness and apply public pressure.
International Medical Corps, one of the largest first responder and disaster relief organizations in the world, wrote in a statement that they received cancellation notices for “the majority of our U.S. government-funded programs” late Wednesday night.
“As a result, we are in the process of closing affected programs. Though we receive funding from a variety of sources, this loss of funding will significantly impact our lifesaving global operations. To navigate this challenge, we will need to implement substantial changes across the organization in the coming days and weeks,” the statement read.
The IMC, which works in over 30 countries and last year alone said they provided direct health care services to over 16.5 million people, had received about half of its funding from the U.S. It is also currently runs two of the only field hospitals still operational in Gaza.
Global Refuge, formerly Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, wrote in a statement Thursday that the contract terminations did not amount to a “simple review of federal resources,” but instead, “seeks to end America’s longstanding religious tradition of helping the least among us.”
Trump administration border czar Tom Homan criticized Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador to visit deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, accusing the Democrat of traveling “on the taxpayer dime to meet with an MS-13 gang member, public safety threat, [and] terrorist.”
“What concerns me is Van Hollen never went to the border the last four years under Joe Biden,” Homan said in a Friday interview with “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl that aired Sunday. “What shocks me is he’s remained silent on the travesty that happened on the southern border. Many people died, thousands of people died.”
In a separate interview on “This Week,” Van Hollen, D-Md., responded to Homan’s criticism, saying that he has long supported fighting gang violence.
“[Homan] is lying through his teeth on many places in that — in that record. And I have been actually fighting MS-13, probably longer than Donald Trump ever uttered the name MS-13. For 20 years in this region, I helped stand up the anti — you know, gang — anti-gang task force. But the idea that you can’t defend people’s rights under the Constitution and fight MS-13 and gang violence is a very dangerous idea. That’s the idea the president wants to put out. That’s why they’re spreading all these lies.”
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who was residing in Maryland, was deported to El Salvador’s notorious mega-prison in March. The White House alleges he is member of the MS-13 gang, which was designated as a “foreign terrorist organization” by the administration; his attorneys and family deny he’s affiliated with the gang.
Abrego Garcia received a protective court order in 2019 barring him from being deported to El Salvador due to fear for his safety. In a court filing, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has acknowledged he should not have been sent to El Salvador, calling it an “administrative error.” The Supreme Court has upheld an order saying the administration must “facilitate” his return to the U.S.
Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador last week and met with Abrego Garcia, whose wife is a U.S. citizen and constituent of Van Hollen’s, on Thursday after initially being denied access to him.
Van Hollen stressed that for him, this case is about protecting constitutional rights, telling Karl, “I am not defending the man. I’m defending the rights of this man to due process.”
But Homan defended the administration’s actions so far, arguing that under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which the administration invoked to deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants including Abrego Garcia, due process rights are more limited.
“I stand by the fact I think we did the right thing here. We removed a public safety threat, a national security threat, a violent gang member from the United States,” Homan said. “We have followed the Constitution. We have followed the law. I am confident that everything we’ve done is follow laws within the constitutional constructs, absolutely.”
He continued, “The length of due process is not the same under the Alien Enemies Act. That’s why the Alien Enemies Act was created. President Trump invoked the authorities he had under the Alien Enemies Act, an act written and passed by Congress and signed by a President. We’re using the laws on the books.”
Homan’s defense of the centuries-old law in his Friday interview came just hours before the Supreme Court temporarily halted its use to deport any Venezuelans being held at a facility in northern Texas.
Karl pressed Homan on the due process rights of the deported undocumented immigrants, citing the 1993 Flores v. Reno Supreme Court opinion authored by conservative Justice Antonin Scalia that noted, “It is well established that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law in deportation proceedings.”
“Are you saying that by invoking the Alien Enemies Act that undocumented immigrants are not entitled to those due process rights under the Fifth Amendment?” Karl asked.
“We’re following the rules of the Alien Enemies Act. Again, I think this administration has followed the law. They’re using statutes enacted by Congress, signed by a president, to remove terrorists from this country. I’m not saying, you know — I’m not saying, I’m not arguing right here that nobody should get due process. I’m just saying there’s a different process under the Alien Enemies Act, and less of a process than you see through Title 8,” Homan said, referring to the immigration statute typically used to deport undocumented immigrants.
Homan also denied that any migrant is being labeled a gang member solely because of tattoos. On Friday, Trump posted a photo on social media of what he says is Abrego Gracia’s hand. The MS-13 symbols appear to be superimposed and it’s not clear if the other tattoos have any link to the gang.
“Tattoos are one of many factors that’s going to determine someone’s in a gang. That’s not the only one,” Homan said. “What I’m saying is you can’t ignore a tattoo. That’s, that’s one more factor that leads you to believe maybe it’s a gang member. It’s just not based on tattoos. It’s based on a lot of other things, but tattoos, one of many. But no one’s removed just because of a tattoo.”
President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled a long-promised, sweeping set of baseline tariffs on all countries and what he described as “kind reciprocal” tariffs on nations he claimed were the worst offenders in trade relations with the U.S.
“My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day,” Trump said from the White House Rose Garden, claiming the action will free the U.S. from dependence on foreign goods.
“April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed and the day that we began to make America wealthy again,” he said.
The new measures — which Trump described as “historic” — include a minimum baseline tariff of 10% and further, more targeted levies on certain countries like China, the European Union and Taiwan.
“We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us,” he said, adding, “because we are being very kind.”
“This is not full reciprocal. This is kind reciprocal,” he said.
Trump held up a chart with a list of nations and what the new U.S. tariffs against them will be. At the top was China, which Trump said was set to be hit with a 34% tariff rate as he claimed it charged the United States 67%.
The 10% baseline tariff rate goes into effect on April 5, according to senior White House officials. The “kind reciprocal” tariffs go into effect April 9 at 12:01 a.m., officials said, and will impact roughly 60 countries.
Trump described trade deficits as a “national emergency” and that his actions will usher in what he called “the golden age of America.”
“In short, chronic trade deficits are no longer merely an economic problem. They’re a national emergency that threatens our security and our very way of life. It’s a very great threat to our country,” he said.
Wednesday’s tariff announcement is a moment months in the making for the president, but one that comes with significant political and economic risk.
Some experts warn his moves could cause the economy to slide into a recession and markets seesawed ahead of Wednesday’s announcement, after weeks of turmoil as Trump’s tariff policy shifted and took shape.
The White House had been mum on details ahead of Wednesday’s event. One senior administration official said the situation was “still very fluid” after meetings on Wednesday morning and that Trump and his top advisers were trying to find some common ground where they agreed.
Some options debated in recent weeks, ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang reported, were a 20% flat tariff rate on all imports; different tariff levels for each country based on their levies on U.S. products; or tariffs on about 15% of countries with the largest trade imbalances with the U.S.
Wednesday’s tariffs build onto levies already imposed by the administration, including on steel and aluminum as well as certain goods from China, Canada and Mexico.
The actions have strained relations with Canada and Mexico, two key allies and neighbors. Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week the U.S. and Canada’s deep relationship on economic, security and military issues was effectively over.
Canada has vowed retaliatory tariffs and Mexico said it will give its response later this week. The European Union, too, said it has a “strong plan to retaliate.”
But Trump and administration officials are plowing full steam ahead, arguing America’s been unfairly “ripped off” by other nations for years and it’s time for reciprocity.
“For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” Trump said on Wednesday.
The economy was the top issue for voters in the 2024 presidential election, with Americans casting blame on President Joe Biden for high prices and Trump promising to bring families financial relief.
The administration has painted tariffs as a panacea for the economy writ large, arguing any pain experienced in the short term will be offset by what they predict will be major boosts in manufacturing, job growth and government revenue.
“Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country, and you see it happening already. We will supercharge our domestic industrial base,” Trump said. “We will pry open foreign markets and break down foreign trade barriers. And ultimately, more production at home will mean stronger competition and lower prices for consumers.”
But economists say it will be American consumers who bear the brunt of higher costs to start.
It’s unclear how much leeway the public is willing to give Trump to get past what he in the past called “a little disturbance.”
Already, little more than two months into his second term, polls show his handling of the economy is being met with pushback.
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey published on Monday found a majority of Americans (58%) disapprove of how Trump has been handling the economy.
On his protectionist trade negotiations with other nations, specifically, 60% of Americans said they disapproved of his approach so far. It was his weakest issue in the poll among Republicans.
Trump’s GOP allies on Capitol Hill have said they’re placing trust in the president, but acknowledged there will be some uncertainty to start.
“It may be rocky in the beginning but I think this will make sense for Americans and it will help all Americans,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday alongside other members of Republican leadership.
Democrats, meanwhile, pledged to fight the tariffs “tooth and nail” and were trying to force a vote aimed at curtailing his authorities to impose levies on Canada.
“Trump’s done a lot of bad things. This is way up there,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier on Wednesday.
ABC News’ Mary Bruce, Katherine Faulders and Fritz Farrow contributed to this report.
