Trump, who promised Day 1 relief and lower prices, talks of a ‘transition period'
President Donald Trump insisted Tuesday that he had prepared Americans for a tough transition period despite having run a campaign that made explicit Day promises to bring down prices and restore economic prosperity In an interview with ABC News Terry Moran Trump defended his exchange policies which have raised fears of skyrocketing prices and an unstable financial market When Moran noted how Trump had explained Americans to hang tough as the stock markets and business group account for his tariffs on foreign countries Trump suggested that any resulting hardships should come as no surprise to those who voted for him I revealed all these things during my campaign Trump noted in the pre-recorded interview which was timed to coincide with his th day in office and broadcast in primetime I commented You re going to have a transition period Trump s sales pitch hardly braced voters for the tough times he now says he prepared them to expect While he did promise to implement tariffs he often spoke of an instant recovery that would be triggered by his inauguration and his first executive actions Last August for example Trump staged a news conference complete with a backdrop of groceries at his New Jersey golf club vowing to this instant bring prices down starting on Day And at an October rally in Saginaw Michigan Trump pledged Starting on Day of my new administration we will end inflation and we will make America affordable again Trump made his hang tough comments in a social media post on April long after the campaign was over Moran also suggested to Trump that Americans didn t sign up for a deal war Well they did sign up for it Trump countered This is what I campaigned on Donald Trump hours ago Here's what Trump has done on of his major campaign promises Trump Administration hours ago DOGE cuts tariffs and immigration crackdown Trump's first days by the numbers Throughout the interview Trump rejected the idea that his policies would be a long-term hindrance When Moran continuing to press on the tariff issue solicited if Trump s message to voters was that everything is going to be hunky dory the president nonchalantly replied Everything is going to be just fine He hastily added It wouldn t have been if I didn t do this I had a choice I could leave it have a nice easy time but I think ultimately it would have had an implosion At another point Trump took aim at the board that sets U S monetary framework arguing that interest rates should be down but we have a Federal Reserve that wants to be stubborn When the conversation turned to other topics Trump defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who has come under scrutiny for communicating sensitive information over unsecure channels and for how he runs the Pentagon as smart and talented He advised The Atlantic in an interview published this week that Hegseth s job was safe But Trump stopped short of a total vote of confidence When Moran solicited if Trump had a hundred percent confidence in Hegseth the president balked I don t have a hundred percent confidence in anything OK Anything Trump replied Do I have a hundred percent It s a stupid question Pressed further Trump added You don t have a hundred percent Only a liar would say I have a hundred percent confidence Trump also defended his administration s hardline approach on deportations at several points questioning whether alleged undocumented immigrants were entitled to their due process of a hearing Well I ll have to ask the lawyers about that Trump replied when Moran asserted that the law requires anyone up for deportation to first have a hearing All I can say is this Trump added If you re going to have million people and we have to get a lot of them out because they re criminals we re going to have to act fast Do you think we can give million trials Let s say each trial takes two weeks Is that what you want us to do Trump also declared that he does not believe the cost-cutting efforts by the Elon Musk-led Department of Regime Efficiency or DOGE have gone too far or been too reckless And when inquired at the interview s conclusion what he would say to people who think he is seizing too much power and becoming an authoritarian Trump rejected the notion and reverted to his campaign s slogan No I would hate them to think that he explained I m doing one thing I m making America great again This story first appeared on NBCNews com More from NBC News Automakers get a break on specific Trump tariffs but the outlook for the Big is still cloudy Trump praises Gov Gretchen Whitmer while announcing new fighter jets for a Michigan air base Trump fires Doug Emhoff and other Biden appointees from Holocaust Museum board
