Comedian Theo Von warned that not giving President Trump’s tariffs a try could be a “wrap” for America’s economy, backing the administration’s push to revive hollowed-out towns and reshore American manufacturing.
“On this comedy tour, we’ve been to probably the top 200 cities, size-wise, in America. Maybe even more than that,” Von said on his “This Past Weekend” podcast.
“And a lot of them, there’s nothing there. It’s empty downtown…” he continued. “And so you start to be like, nothing’s going to change. There’s nothing coming that’s going to make that different.”
‘NECESSARY’ OR ‘BULLYING OUR FRIENDS?’ AMERICANS DIFFER STARKLY ON TRUMP TARIFFS
Like others who say to give the president’s tariffs a chance, Von called the strategy a “long-term play,” noting that the goal of bringing jobs back to U.S. soil and producing products currently built offshore will take some time.
Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo last month that the initial phase of his economic strategy would be bumpy for Americans, specifically noting a “period of transition” to come as his policies take effect.
His comments came amid concerns from business leaders about instability caused by tariffs imposed on a handful of countries, as well as growing concerns about a potential economic slowdown.
TRUMP’S TARIFFS: WHAT TARIFFS HAVE BEEN IMPOSED ON MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS OR PAUSED
The Trump administration has since imposed, then paused, reciprocal tariffs on a number of other trade partners, but has most notably hiked tariffs on Chinese imports to 125% in a back-and-forth trade war with no end in sight.
As countries come to the negotiating table, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Monday that the Trump administration is “stewing over” a handful of “amazing” tariff deal offers from unspecified trade partners.
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At this point, he said, the Trump trade team has made “astonishing” progress and the key question remains whether the administration should present one deal at a time or announce a bundle all at once.
Hassett told CNN’s State of the Union anchor Jake Tapper on Sunday that the administration is negotiating with 130 countries.
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