Trump likens tariffs to 'medicine' to address trade imbalances amid market fluctuations

US President Donald Trump defended his recent tariff measures, describing them as a form of “medicine” necessary to remedy the nation's trade deficits with several key partners.

While aboard Air Force One en route from Florida to Washington, DC, Trump acknowledged that although market declines are undesirable, sometimes corrective actions—much like taking medicine—are required to fix underlying issues.

“I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” Trump remarked, emphasizing that his tariff policy was not intended to deliberately trigger a market sell-off. Instead, he argued that the tariffs are a strategic tool to strengthen the American economy. “What's going to happen with the market? I can't tell you. But I can tell you our country has gotten a lot stronger, and eventually it'll be a country like no other. It'll be the most dominant country economically in the world,” he stated.

Trump further criticized previous leadership for allowing the trade imbalances to worsen, claiming that past administrations had mishandled foreign trade relations. “We have been treated so badly by other countries because we had a stupid leadership that allowed this to happen. They took our businesses, they took our money, they took our jobs, they moved it to Mexico, they moved it to Canada, they moved a lot of it to China, and it's not sustainable,” he said, contrasting his approach with that of former President Joe Biden's administration.

He stressed his commitment to resolving trade deficits with major economic powers, including China and the European Union. During discussions with global leaders over the weekend, Trump made it clear that his tariff strategy was aimed at eliminating deficits, which he equated to economic losses.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump reiterated his stance: “We have massive financial deficits with China, the European Union, and many others. The only way this problem can be cured is with tariffs, which are now bringing tens of billions of dollars into the USA. They are already in effect, and a beautiful thing to behold.” He added that the current surplus with these countries had grown under what he derisively referred to as the ‘Presidency’ of “sleepy Joe Biden,” promising swift reversals to these trends.

Trump’s remarks underline his administration’s determination to use tariffs as a lever to rebalance trade and assert American economic strength amid ongoing market volatility.

Copied