Trump defends tariffs as markets plunge: ‘I don’t want anything to go down’

US President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his sweeping tariffs amid plunging markets, saying he did not “want anything to go down,” The Hill reported. 

“When you look at the trade deficit we have with certain countries, with China it’s a trillion dollars,” The Hill quoted Trump as telling reporters traveling with him on Air Force One as he returned from Florida to Washington, D.C., on Sunday evening.

“And we have to solve our trade deficit with China. … Hundreds of billions of dollars a year we lose with China. And unless we solve that problem, I’m not going to make a deal,” Trump continued, according to The Hill.

“This is not sustainable,” he said of U.S. trade deficits.

“The United States can’t lose $1.9 trillion on trade. We can’t do that and also spend a lot of money on NATO in order to protect European nations, we cover them with military and we lose money on trade. The whole thing is crazy, and I got elected on that basis. We explained it. You know, the American people understand it a lot better than the media, but the media understands it, and much of the media writes correctly about it.”

Markets fell sharply on Thursday and Friday after Trump announced Wednesday that tariffs would be imposed on virtually every country exporting to the United States. Futures are also down more than 1,300 points on the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Sunday night, as of 8:18 p.m., ahead of Monday morning’s opening, according to The Hill.

Asked if he had a threshold for how far markets would have to fall, Trump responded sharply.

“I think your question is so stupid. I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he said.

Trump argues that other countries for years have taken advantage of the U.S. when it comes to trade policy.

He said he’d heard from a number of trading partners.

“I spoke to a lot of Europeans, Asians, all over the world. They’re dying to make a deal,“ Trump said.

The president has seen some allies criticize his new tariffs.

Asked if he wants zero tariffs with Europe like his ally, the tech mogul Elon Musk, has advocated, Trump said: “Europe has made a fortune off us. … Europe has treated us very very badly.”

“They are coming to the table. They want to talk but there’s no talk unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis.”