'He's Playing Russian Roulette With The Economy': Chuck Schumer Tears Into Trump Over Tariff Policy

2 days ago

During remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about President Trump's tariffs.

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Transcript

00:00So first on tariffs, Mr. President, yesterday President Trump announced a

00:05new round of tariffs of 25% on all auto imports into the United States. But we

00:14have no details, no timeline, no plan, only more chaos. Donald Trump's trade war

00:21has accomplished only one thing to date, chaos. In the 66 days since Donald Trump

00:28has become president, he's had 66 different positions on this issue. One

00:34day he says yes to tariffs, the next day he says no, then the day after he says

00:39yes again. He can't make up his mind which country should have them, which

00:43country shouldn't, how much, what products. It's all one big mull. Donald Trump's

00:50tariffs, make no mistake about it, American, I say to the American people,

00:55make no mistake about it, Donald Trump's tariffs are a national sales tax on

01:01American families. Tariffs without a plan will only raise prices without

01:07anything to show for it. It's like he's playing Russian roulette with the

01:12economy. Whatever seems to pop in his mind one day, he talks about, then the

01:18next day it's something else. Chaos. His trade war is sending stock markets

01:24crashing, hurting people's retirement, increasing the risk of a recession. A lot

01:30of the banks have increased their risk because of Trump's actions, their risk

01:33assessments of a recession because of Trump's actions. Consumer confidence is

01:38cratering. Yesterday we learned people's outlook for the economy has hit a 12

01:43year low, even lower than it was during the height of inflation. A 12 year low.

01:51And how can anyone feel confident about the economy when Elon Musk is taking a

01:57chainsaw to Social Security? How can anyone feel confident about the economy

02:02when Donald Trump is imposing tariffs on people? The average credit card debt

02:08meanwhile surpasses $10,000 for the first time since 2009. With such chaos in the

02:15economy, with such chaos in what's going on with tariffs, it's no wonder that the

02:20American consumer doesn't have confidence in Donald Trump and the way

02:25he's handling the economy. And as a result, the American consumer is being

02:29more cautious about spending, keeping a little more money in their pocket just

02:33in case something happens. And now it looks like a lot of bad things will.

02:40So the economic alarm bells are ringing. Donald Trump is pouring fuel

02:46into the fire by launching America into a trade war with no plan whatsoever. And

02:52making even things even worse, he's cutting both Social Security and the

03:00agency that helps give Medicaid and Medicare to people. This morning the Wall

03:06Street Journal reported that Donald Trump and Secretary Kennedy are planning

03:10to cut 10,000 jobs, 10,000 jobs at HHS. Let's be very clear what these layoffs

03:18represent. An assault on Medicare, an assault on Medicaid, an assault on

03:23families and consumers from one corner of the country to the next. When you fire

03:29people who provide Medicare and Medicaid, that is the same as a benefit cut. When

03:35you fire people who prevent the spread of diseases like measles, America will

03:40get sicker. Schools will get sicker. People, families will suffer. Mass layoffs to

03:48Medicare workers will not make things more efficient. Mass layoffs to

03:52Medicaid workers will not make things more efficient. It is more sabotage, just

03:58like the attacks on Social Security. Donald Trump and Secretary Kennedy

04:03should reverse this attack on Medicare and Medicaid immediately. And where are

04:08our Republican colleagues? They say they want to protect Medicare. Some of them

04:12are worried about cutting Medicaid. We heard them say it. Well, when you cut 10,000

04:17employees from HHS, you are cutting Medicare and Medicaid in terms of the

04:21benefits people will receive, similar to what they're doing on Social Security.

04:27They don't say outright they're going to eliminate it, but they try to strangle it.

04:31They try to strangle it. And the American people suffer.

'He's Playing Russian Roulette With The Economy': Chuck Schumer Tears Into Trump Over Tariff Policy

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