There's A Problem When President Trump Speaks To Us About Tariffs

This past Sunday, President Donald Trump presided over the White House Christmas Reception, delivering a speech carried live to the nation. Among the holiday remarks, he took the opportunity to extol the benefits of his tariff program.

As you no doubt know, tariffs are a subject that is near and dear to the President's heart, and one that he is singularly responsible for implementing. After all, it was Trump who used the full power and authority of the President to create those tariffs.

Using the provisions of the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, Trump first declared that a national emergency exists, one that was created by essentially the entire globe, as he applied tariffs to nearly every country on earth.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-declares-national-emergency-to-increase-our-competitive-edge-protect-our-sovereignty-and-strengthen-our-national-and-economic-security/

Never bashful, President Trump then pointed out that these tariffs were only created because he was elected on November 5, 2024. President Biden, he said, or any other President would not have created Tariffs as Trump did, and in fact, Biden's tariffs raised far less than the new tariffs.

Undoubtedly, this is true; no other President would have initiated tariffs like President Trump.

However, it's at this point that the speech takes a bizarre turn, raising question after question. I quote:

“There's never been anything like it. And I'd like to say that was because of the November 5th election, but uh and it was to an extent because without the November 5th election, you would have had a president that didn't have the courage to use tariffs the way they should be used. And because of the tariffs, we've taken in more than 18, think of this, $18 trillion. There's never been anything like it. As an example, the previous Administration,
Sleepy Joe Biden took in less than 1 trillion in four years. We took in more than 18 trillion in 10 months. I'd say that's pretty good, right? I'd say that's pretty good.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHc7egBY5qo

(Start at the 3:23 mark)


Indeed, it would be "pretty good," Mr. President, if only it were true. Because if it were true, we would be making nearly as much in tariffs ($18 t) as the entire economy produced in the same 9 months (9-month GDP approximately $22 t).

The tariffs, a fee added to imports, would be over twice the total value of the goods and services we import each year. In 2024, the US total imports were $4.11 t. How could we possibly pay more in tariffs on what we purchased abroad? Finally, if our tariff income were actually $18 t (over 9 months), it would exceed total Federal Government outlays (we currently spend approximately $7 trillion per year) by $11 t.

The reality is far different from what President Trump claimed. You can find the latest tariff receipts on the bipartisan US Tariff and Excise Tax Revenue Tracker.
As I'm writing this, the total tariff revenue is $261 b (not trillions)—a mere fraction of the $18 t claimed by President Trump.

https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/tariff-tracker/

Of course, there are several disturbing issues here. First, how can we have a meaningful public debate on US Tariff Policy when the Administration seems to plant such woefully inaccurate data before the public? If it were true that the US was gaining $18 t in revenue from tariffs, no one would debate the issue. Tariffs would be the best thing since "sliced bread," something that we'd all embrace. But that's simply not the case, and to claim it is is to play us for fools.

Then there's the issue of how President Trump could be so far off the mark in his claim about Tariff revenue. I understand that he may not be that familiar with the exact numbers involved. But a quick brush-up before he walked on stage would have prevented the embarrassment of being entirely wrong. Assuming that there will be any repercussions for the President, which may not turn out to be the case.

Finally, where's the rest of the Administration – calling Treasury Secretary Bessent, or Commerce Secretary Lutnick, where are you? You are the two men who've been closely identified with the tariff policy. You've stood by the President when he announced the policy, and, one would think, you would want to defend tariffs in public discussions. Yet we hear nothing.

Tariffs are the most consequential economic policy of this Trump Presidency. Yet we have a President who is demonstrably wrong in his recitation of the Tariff's income and benefits.

Will someone in this Administration set the record straight?

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