Trump Signals Regret Over China Trade War

“President Trump expressed a note of regret on Sunday that his trade war with China had spiraled into an international quagmire, answering ‘yes’ when a reporter asked if he had ‘second thoughts’ about his tactics,” the Washington Post reports.

“Asked if he was rethinking the way tensions had escalated between the two countries, Trump responded ‘Yeah, sure why not. Might as well. Might as well. I have second thoughts about everything.'”

“He also appeared to dramatically dial back his threat to force U.S. companies to stop doing business with China, something he had insisted he had the power to do despite international alarm.”

Later, Axios reports the White House walked back Trump’s comment: “The President was asked if he had ‘any second thought on escalating the trade war with China’. His answer has been greatly misinterpreted. President Trump responded in the affirmative – because he regrets not raising the tariffs higher.”