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Topics: Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Tariffs
It seems Donald Trump has been pretty busy in his second mandate - so busy, in fact, he apparently didn't have time to buy a birthday gift for his wife, Melania.
In fairness, it's hard to imagine having any time to shop when you sit at the White House all day actioning executive orders - makes it that much harder to nail the perfect present.
That, and having a federal judge accuse you of deporting a child with 'no meaningful process' and being labeled as a 'disgrace' for your behavior at Pope Francis' funeral, it's safe to say that Trump may have other things on his mind.
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Quizzed by journalists during a recent press conference, the President of the United States was asked whether he had something special planned for Melania's birthday on April 26.
As it turns out, Trump has been 'pretty busy' with tariffs that he didn't have the time to get Melania anything.
Fret not, as the POTUS won't be empty-handed on the First Lady's big day. During the interview, he revealed he has a grand gesture in mind to surprise her.
“I’ll take her to dinner on the Boeing, I’ll take her for dinner on Air Force One,” Trump told reporters yesterday (April 25).
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“I haven’t had much time to buy presents. I’ve been pretty busy. But it’s working out. People are starting to understand how good tariffs are … for us.”
After Netflix murder mystery The Residence gave us a good, if fictional, look at the numerous people working for the President in the White House, it seems odd that there isn't a single aide or assistant who could take upon themselves the hard task to buy a gift for the First Lady. Then again, perhaps Trump wants to add a personal touch to his birthday surprise.
Meanwhile, the 47th US President has been working hard on implementing tariffs on goods imported from other countries, particularly China.
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The ongoing trade war between the two countries has seen the US inflicting reciprocal tariffs on China. This number has since skyrocketed to 145 percent, and then to a whopping 245 percent. Elsewhere in his deals strategy, Trump paused the tariff plans for all other countries for 90 days as China raised tariffs on all US goods to 125 percent, while also reducing exports of rare earth minerals.
Earlier this week, Trump U-turned on the eye-watering figures on China, saying that the tariffs will be going down.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on April 22, the US President said: "145 percent is very high and it won’t be that high. It won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero."