Trump says he isn’t ‘taking flight’ on business: ‘It’s referred to as negotiation’

President Donald Trump on Wednesday driven again in opposition to an rising critique of his on-again, off-again tariff threats, which has been derisively summed up because the “TACO trade.”

The time period coined via a Financial Times columnist — which stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out” — describes a trend by which Trump declares heavy new price lists, sending markets tumbling, after which later pauses or lightens them, inflicting markets to rebound.

When requested via CNBC concerning the time period on the White House, Trump denied that he had ever sponsored down and steered that his strikes have helped the U.S. achieve flooring in business negotiations.

“After I did what I did, they said, ‘We’ll meet anytime you want,'” Trump stated of the European Union, which he had just lately centered with a 50% U.S. tariff — earlier than saying two days later that he used to be delaying that new levy.

“You call that chickening out?” Trump stated.

“It’s called negotiation,” he added, after criticizing the query as “nasty.”

Stocks fell Friday after Trump referred to as for the U.S. to impose the steep tariff at the EU beginning June 1. On Sunday, Trump stated he would lengthen that time limit to July 9 after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen requested for an extension.

In the following buying and selling consultation on Tuesday, shares rallied throughout primary indexes.

Trump in Wednesday’s remarks went directly to credit score the 50% tariff danger with jumpstarting business talks between the U.S. and the EU.

“The sad thing is, now, when I make a deal with them, it’s something much more reasonable, they’ll say, ‘Oh, he was chicken, he was chicken,'” Trump stated. “That’s so unbelievable.”

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— CNBC’s Laya Neelakandan contributed to this document.