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White House and Eric Trump mocked amid dueling tariff tactics

The White House has been adamant: President Donald Trump’s sweeping mass tariffs, which he is imposing on nearly every country across the globe, are a line in the sand—non-negotiable, not up for discussion, debate, or deviation.

“This is not a negotiation,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN on Thursday, “emphasizing that the tariffs are part of a national emergency response to countries that have, in her view, harmed American workers for decades,” according to Newsweek.

“Trump administration officials insist that the sweeping tariffs are not a negotiation tactic, and that Trump “is not going to back off,” CNBC reported Thursday afternoon.

CNN’s Brian Stelter reported, however, “While the Trump White House says the tariff rates are not the start of a negotiation, Wall Street thinks they are, because otherwise the markets would be down ‘like 30%’ today.”

The Dow closed down almost 1700 points on Thursday, or almost 4%, with Barron’s reporting: “The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq had their worst day since 2020 after President Donald Trump announced global tariffs.”

But according to the President’s former White House and campaign press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, who called it “posturing” on Fox News, she believes there’s definitely room for negotiation.

“You heard the White House there saying, you know, ‘this is not part of a negotiation, this is here to stay.’ I firmly believe that is posturing,” she told her Fox News co-hosts. “Trump is the great dealmaker, a great negotiator. And he’s someone who understands how to get to the, to a good end result. And with that in mind, you set the posture ‘that this isn’t going away, these are here to stay, you’ve had 70 years to negotiate.’ That’s what I think this is.”

“We’ll see what happens,” she added, “but I would not be surprised if the great negotiator has an endgame in mind here.”

Trump’s son, Eric Trump, took a similar stance.

“I wouldn’t want to be the last country that tries to negotiate a trade deal with @realDonaldTrump,” wrote Eric Trump on Thursday. “The first to negotiate will win – the last will absolutely lose. I have seen this movie my entire life…”

Fox Business senior correspondent Charles Gasparino replied, “I agree.”

NBC News Justice and Intelligence Correspondent Ken Dilanian responded: “Wait, so this IS a negotiating bid? Because the White House said it isn’t.”

Possibly more telling than the President’s son appearing to give the game away, the President’s political operation, via his “War Room,” responded with the “eyes” emoji, promoting Eric Trump’s post and suggesting interest.

Meanwhile, both the Trump White House and Eric Trump were mocked.

“How many of those movies ended in bankruptcy, honey?” asked national security and civil rights journalist Marcy Wheeler.

“This entire family appears to see every relationship as a zero sum game,” observed HuffPost White House correspondent S.V. Dáte. “Explains a lot.”

Journalist Jack Schlossberg also mocked Eric Trump:

“Grand strategist eric trump — brilliant !! Negotiation 101: 1) Fire all your ammunition in every direction 2) Give up your leverage to the first at the table 3) Have nothing left to bargain with 4) declare victory.”

It appears that the “first to negotiate” may be Trump’s “favorite” president—besides himself.

“The day after President Trump antagonized world leaders across the globe with his most sweeping set of tariffs yet, he was scheduled to fly to Florida and potentially see the one leader he has called his “favorite president’,” The New York Times reports. “That leader, President Javier Milei of Argentina, had flown overnight to receive an award on Thursday at a right-wing gala at Mar-a-Lago. Mr. Trump was scheduled to also be there late Thursday — Mr. Milei said Mr. Trump would receive an award, too — and Mr. Milei said he hoped the two would meet.”