President Donald Trump is teasing a May 8 announcement “concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL” as his administration faces questions about when trade talks will produce results.
Trump didn’t offer any details about the deal, other than writing in all capital letters that it involves a “big, and highly respected, country.” The New York Times and Politico, citing unnamed sources, said the country is Britain. Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs on a slew of countries April 2 but later paused most of them for 90 days, saying countries were eager to negotiate trade deals. Administration officials repeatedly have said they are close to making deals, but none have been announced yet. Trump commented about the intense interest in the trade deals during a May 6 meeting with the prime minister of Canada.
“Everyone says: ‘When, when, when are you going to sign deals?” Trump said. “We don’t have to sign deals. We could sign 25 deals right now . . . if we wanted. We don’t have to sign deals. They have to sign deals with us. They want a piece of our market.”
The president expressed frustration with the constant questions.
“I wish they’d stop asking how many deals are you signing this week,” he said