'Deal-maker-in-chief': Behind the scenes of Trump's tariff pause, where he has final say over negotiations
'The American people elected President Trump because he's a deal-maker,' one admin official said
Trump's hard-hitting tariff approach is working: Kevin Hassett
White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett reveals how many countries have come to the table to make a trade deal with President Donald Trump, on 'Varney & Co.'
President Donald Trump and his administration's negotiation blitz with dozens of nations after pausing reciprocal tariffs will solidify him as the U.S.'s "deal-maker-in-chief" as he focuses on bringing parity to the country's chronic trade deficit, administration officials told Fox News Digital.
On Wednesday, Trump put a 90-day pause on reciprocal, customized tariffs he had imposed on dozens of nations, which was an abrupt change of course after saying there would not be a pause to them, just negotiations. Simultaneously, the Trump administration upped the ante on its tariff on China to 125%.
A Trump administration official told Fox News Digital that the pause came about after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick encouraged Trump to put those tariffs on ice after receiving an outpouring of good-faith commitments from trading partners to renegotiate the deals in ways that were favorable to the U.S.
Trump agreed, with the admin official underscoring that while the administration was "obviously" watching the volatile market on Wednesday morning, Trump's top priority is how to "best address our national emergency of trade deficits."
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President Donald Trump holds a chart as he delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden titled "Make America Wealthy Again" at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 2. Trump geared up to unveil sweeping new "Liber (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"When these countries were coming to us, making good-faith commitments to sit down with us and really hash out a favorable deal, that's what prompted a 90-day pause," the official explained.
Trump made similar remarks after the tariff pause, telling the media on Wednesday that while he was watching the "tricky" bond market, presidents must be "flexible."
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"You have to have flexibility. I could say there's a wall. ... Sometimes, you have to go around or under the wall. Financial markets change. Look how much they changed. I think the word would be ‘flexible.’ You have to be flexible," Trump said when asked about his credibility after pausing the tariffs.
Investor and hedge fund manager Scott Bessent testifies before a Senate Finance Committee hearing on his nomination to be treasury secretary on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 16. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Fox News Digital spoke with another administration official familiar with Wednesday's tariff pause, who explained that putting the customized tariffs on ice was not a surprise, citing that "everything's always in the cards" with Trump.
Trump announced on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after the customized tariffs took effect at 12:01 a.m., that he would pause the customized tariffs on nations that were looking to strike a deal with the U.S. The pause only affected the reciprocal tariffs, and did not lift the 10% tariff on the majority of nations across the world, or other previous tariffs Trump put in place such as the auto tariff, and also increased the tariff on China to 125%.
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Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick stands alongside President Donald Trump during an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The customized, reciprocal tariffs were part of Trump's highly-anticipated "Liberation Day" announcement on April 2, which the president described as a day ushering back the "American Dream" with U.S.-made goods, a revived manufacturing job market, as well as massive revenue flowing back into the U.S. from the taxes. The "Liberation Day" announcement was underscored by the administration promoting that the duty taxes will bring parity to the U.S.'s chronic trade deficit with other nations, which will lead to an evened-out trade playing field via negotiations.
From left: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
An administration official told Fox Digital, when asked about singling out China on Wednesday, that Trump has been clear that the U.S. wants to have productive trade relations with "every country in the world, including China."
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"However, China decided to retaliate aggressively, and we're not going to back down," the admin official said, referring to China imposing an 84% tariff on U.S. goods.
The White House garden tour in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. (Yuri Gripas for Fox News Digital / Fox News)
On Thursday, Trump told the media that the biggest problem facing the administration as they hash out negotiations is lack of time to field calls from other nations.
"We have [Scott Bessent] here and [Howard Lutnick] and some of the people that are working on deals. And the biggest problem they have is they don't have enough time in the day. Everybody wants to come and make a deal, and we're working with a lot of different countries, and it's all going to work out very well. I think it's going to work out really very well," Trump said Thursday following a Cabinet meeting.
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An administration official told Fox Digital that Trump will also be personally involved in the negotiations, including taking direct phone calls from fellow world leaders, pointing to the president's phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday regarding tariff negotiations. Trump will serve as the "final decision maker" of the negotiations, and he is "very invested" in securing the best trade deals for the U.S., the admin official said.
"The American people elected President Trump because he's a deal-maker, and he's going to be the deal-maker-in-chief to make this happen," the source said.
President Donald Trump unveiled his "Liberation Day" tariff plan on April 2. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
The tariff pause brought swift condemnation from Democrats, with longtime Trump foe Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., calling for an investigation into alleged market manipulation and insider trading at the hands of Trump.
One administration official shot back, "I don't even understand the basis of their argument," when asked about the accusation.
The White House slammed Democrats over the claims on Wednesday, calling it "partisan politics" while also singling out the media for "fearmongering" over the market amid the tariff debate.
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"It is the responsibility of the President of the United States to reassure the markets and Americans about their economic security in the face of nonstop media fearmongering. Democrats railed against China’s cheating for decades, and now they’re playing partisan games instead of celebrating President Trump’s decisive action yesterday to finally corner China," White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox Digital earlier Thursday when asked about Democrats claiming Trump had manipulated the market.