White House official says reports of 90-day tariff pause are "fake news"
From CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald
It’s not every day that financial markets go from deep in the red to well into positive territory and then back down to the red again — all in the span of minutes.
But that’s exactly what happened on Monday.
With banners flashing on CNBC and posts piling up on social media that the Trump administration was considering a 90-day pause on all tariffs with the exception of China, investors breathed a huge sigh of relief. But then it turned out that they got a little too excited.
A White House official told CNN any such reports are “fake news.”
Much of the reporting traced back to an interview President Donald Trump’s top economic advisor, Kevin Hassett, had on Fox News this morning. Hassett was asked if Trump can call a “90-day timeout” on tariffs.
Hassett responded: “I think the President will decide what the President is going to decide.” Several news networks took that to mean Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs. However, there was no official reporting on that.
White House director of communications Steven Cheung also denied reports of a 90-day pause being under consideration. He reposted a NewsMax post on X post of Hassett with his own comments: “Not true. Nobody can point to a transcript … because it was never said.”