On Saturday, Donald Trump for President Advisory Board member Dr. Gina Loudon appeared on Fox News to talk with anchor Leland Vittert about the president’s comments regarding NAFTA.
Vittert began the segment by reading the following tweet from President Trump:
Vittert then asked Loudon: “Really? We would all be better off if we cancelled all of our bilateral trade agreements and trilateral trade agreements with Canada?”
Loudon and Vittert then had the following exchange:
LOUDON: Well, I think the president’s interest is the same as the American people, Leland. You know, we lost thousands of businesses, don’t forget, through NAFTA; we lost millions of jobs. So the Americans out there who lost their jobs because they were sent overseas are much more concerned –
VITTERT: …There’s also tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of American jobs that rely on having NAFTA in place to trade with Canada. Those people lose their jobs just the same if you cancel NAFTA.
LOUDON: The president’s going to make sure just as he always has. This president ran on the subject of jobs and he has not forgotten that for one second. And I think even the stock market reflects America’s confidence right now in this president’s ability to lead on economics and job issues. He’s not gonna let those people down. I don’t think that’s a concern of most Americans, and I don’t even think it’s a concern of many businesses. He wants to bring those jobs back to the United States.
VITTERT: I don’t know, ma’am. I’ve interviewed a lot of businesses that have been hurt by President Trump’s tariffs. I’ve interviewed a lot of people who say that President Trump’s tariffs are going to put them out of a job. Just go down to Missouri – a nail company [where] now it costs them more to buy steel from overseas than it does for a contractor to buy imported nails from China. There’s winners and losers in any trade war. There’s no such thing as a no-lose situation here.
LOUDON: Well, growth always requires a little bit of pain. So there’s going to be some short-term pain for some long-term gain, and I think that’s how the president has used this whole negotiating tactic. Now, let’s remember, this is the master negotiator; this president has negotiated his entire life.
VITTERT: Let me just try to understand something. Should we read these tweets where he’s saying, “I’m willing to cancel this. I’m willing to do that” – is this a tactic? Is this sort of staking out another one of the president’s extreme positions only to sort of come back to the middle to make a deal?
LOUDON: The president’s been clear that he wants to negotiate with everyone, and he doesn’t just look for America’s success, he looks for the whole world to be successful. But he looks to be the leader of America and for America to have absolutely fabulous success. That’s what he’s always said, and that’s what he’s fighting for – and I believe that. I think most Americans do, too.