The White House said on Monday that reports claiming President Donald Trump was moving toward a 90-day pause on tariffs are “wrong.”
After National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett discussed Trump’s tariffs during an interview on Fox News, reports falsely stated that Hassett revealed the president was considering a pause on all tariffs except those imposed on China. The claim was spread by numerous X accounts with large followings and was also discussed on CNBC, sparking a short-lived spike in the stock market on Monday morning.
A White House official told Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan that reports of a tariff pause are fake news.
White House official tells me this is fake news. Tweet has also been deleted: pic.twitter.com/Y9K0MEVj1X
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) April 7, 2025
“Wrong. Not only did Director Hassett not say this (clip below), @POTUS has been clear — ‘it all has to change, but especially with CHINA!!!'” the White House’s Rapid Response X account stated.
Wrong. Not only did Director Hassett not say this (clip below), @POTUS has been clear — "it all has to change, but especially with CHINA!!!" https://t.co/3Kvt8AScAZ pic.twitter.com/JHucHjZm3S
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 7, 2025
Reports of a tariff pause began swirling after billionaire hedge fund manager and Trump backer Bill Ackman urged the president “to call a 90-day time out, negotiate and resolve unfair asymmetric tariff deals, and induce trillions of dollars of new investment in our country.”
“If, on the other hand, on April 9th we launch economic nuclear war on every country in the world, business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocket books, and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate,” Ackman wrote on X.
When asked about Ackman’s comments and a possible pause on tariffs during his interview on “Fox & Friends,” Hassett replied, “The president is going to decide what the president is going to decide.”
“There are more than 50 countries in negotiation with the president,” Hassett added. “We’ve got the prime minister of Israel coming today. We’ve had a reach-out overnight from Taiwan, but I would urge everyone, especially Bill, to ease off the rhetoric a little bit. … The idea that it’s going to be a nuclear winter or something like that is completely irresponsible rhetoric.”
In a post on Truth Social Monday morning, Trump again asked Americans to be patient as his tariffs on nearly every country in the world go into effect.
“The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO. Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!),” Trump wrote. “Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!”
