White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai said in an interview with Breitbart News that the corporate media still get President Trump’s tariff policy wrong. Speaking at the G20 Finance Ministers meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, Desai is optimistic about the economic growth agenda Secretary Scott Bessent has touted as the administration’s actions to rebalance global trade.
“We’ve heard for the past year and a half about how tariffs were gonna cause the next Great Depression, how President Trump would never be able to get the drug companies to agree to most-favored-nation drug pricing. The president would never be able to reshore our key supply chains, and they’ve been proven wrong every step of the way,” Desai said. “President Trump has consistently and skillfully used tariffs to renegotiate almost 20 trade deals, including with some of our biggest trading partners like Japan and the EU. What doesn’t the media get wrong about President Trump’s tariffs?”
Data released mid-August confirmed that prescription drug prices recorded the largest decrease in over 60 years as Trump’s policies took hold.
Desai said that this was a clear example of President Trump’s ability to deliver results and pointed out that the most-favored-nation pricing deals also include a reshoring component to bring production back to the United States.
“Reporters should be more focused on those results rather than continuing to entertain baseless hypothesizing about doomsday fantasies,” he remarked. “President Trump is ending the broken status quo. These companies have submitted concrete plans to the Commerce Department.”
In addition to pharmaceutical drugs, Desai said semiconductor investments President Trump secured are critical to national economic security. He called it one of the most stunning successes of the Trump administration, noting that semiconductor leaders like TSMC and NVIDIA are bringing jobs, too.
“It’s not just that the numbers are big, it’s that the quality of these investments in these key sectors that are so critical to our country’s security. The president is hell-bent on getting even more investments and creating even more jobs for the American people,” he said.
Desai said another of the administration’s key policies has been reforming the tax code to make it more pro-growth while slashing regulations at the federal level.
“What we’re doing on the regulatory front, the president slashed hundreds of regulations for every new one to get government out of the way and let private enterprise do what it does best,” said Desai, adding the combination of tax code changes and deregulation are working in a complementary way to encourage and incentivize further investment, growth, and innovation.
Pointing to the host city of Asheville, Desai also said Western North Carolina’s resurgence showcases the failure of the Biden administration. He called the response to the hurricane by Biden a disaster caused by utter incompetence — but noted the city has “risen like a phoenix” to host the G20.
He said, “Being able to host the G20 here really shows that dynamism and resilience… something like Hurricane Helene isn’t gonna stop America, isn’t gonna stop America’s resurgence. We’re coming back in a bigger and bolder way, thanks to President Trump.”
Looking forward, Desai talked briefly about the November midterms. He said that Republicans should go out and aggressively talk about the historic accomplishments of the administration and embrace the Working Families Tax Cut, major trade deals, and most-favored-nation pricing deals.
He concluded, “I think there’s a number of accomplishments, so much to work with. I think Republicans should be going out there and talking about what the president’s done, what they have done working with the president on behalf of the American people.”
Read the full article here