TRUMP TALKS TARIFFS IN CHICAGO

This past Tuesday, I had the opportunity to attend an Interview with Donald J. Trump hosted by The Economic Club of Chicago and Bloomberg News. Before I begin this blog, I wanted to say that this blog is unbiased and is not in favor of either candidate in this race, this is simply a review of the event. I also want to mention that I feel that having the opportunity to be in an intimate setting like this

with any president/presidential candidate is an honor. At the beginning of this interview it was also mentioned that Vice President Kamala Harris was also invited to a similar event, but had declined.

I arrived at the hotel ballroom at around 9:00 am Tuesday morning, with the interview set to start at 11:00 am. The event was a bit delayed, and the President ended up coming out at about 11:45 am. At this point in time all of the attendees were in their seats and eagerly awaiting the chance to see the President. One thing that was different from this event compared to other events is that the President did not come out to any music, nor did he play his favorite song, YMCA. Instead, the President gave an hour and fifteen-minute interview with his main focus on tariffs.

The interviewer asked many tough questions and, at times, did upset the president. Although the main focus of the interview was to discuss economics, the President sometimes wandered into other issues. The President, at one point, brought up Russian President Vladimir Putin and was asked if he had spoken to him, to which the president responded, "If I did, it's a smart thing. If I am friendly with people, if I can have a relationship with people, that's a good thing, not a bad thing." I thought that his answer was interesting, especially since, in the past, there have been various accusations regarding the President and his conversations with Vladimir Putin.

The main highlight of the interview was Trump's tariff talk. The interviewer made sure to let the president know that based on projections from the Wall Street Journal, his plans would add about $7.5 trillion to the debt. The President responded by saying the following:  "You're wrong. You've been wrong all your life on this stuff." Which then prompted the crowd to break out into laughter. When discussing tariffs, the President had this to say: "The tariff, you make it so high, so horrible, so obnoxious that they'll come right away." By far, my favorite statement that the president made during this conversation when discussing Supreme Court justices was the following: "You tend to put them in young, only stupid people put old. You know, you don't put old in because they're there for two years or three years." The interviewer then interrupted and said, "You're a 78-year-old man running for president." The president ignored and kept on rolling with the punches. If Trump were to win, he would be 82 at the end of his 2nd term, in 2029.

With only a couple of weeks left until election day, time is running out for candidates to discuss their plans with voters, especially in crucial swing states. If you have the ability to do so, make sure you go out and vote!