President Donald Trump was heading off to France Thursday morning to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the famed Allied assault on the beaches of Normandy, flanked by dignitaries and world leaders. But first, he wanted to talk about trade.
Amid all of the pageantry of his whirlwind trip to Europe, which included a state dinner in which he was honored by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, Trump has dragged his domestic battles alongside him, casting the solemn anniversary he was there to celebrate into sharp relief with his Twitter feed.
“The Democrats — Congress has been a disaster. They won't change. They won't do anything. They want free immigration — immigration to pour into our country,” Trump told reporters on the airport tarmac in Ireland before departing for D-Day ceremonies in France. “They don’t care who it is. They don’t care what kind of a record they have.”
The president expressed hope about Wednesday’s progress in trade talks with Mexico, which is looking to head off a 5 percent tariff on its exports to the U.S. over what Trump says is a lack of support on stemming the flow of Central American migrants. But the president doubled down on his threat, predicting that "something pretty dramatic could happen" in talks with Mexico. "We've told Mexico the tariffs go on" beginning Monday, he warned. "And I mean it, too. And I'm very happy with it."
But he ripped the pushback he’s gotten from all sides — including his own party, which has protested his plan and is eyeing a formal rebuke once it’s finally put in motion.
“And a lot of people, senators included, they have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to tariffs,” he told reporters. “They have no — absolutely no idea.”
Democrats in Congress, he claimed, "couldn’t care less" about the recent surge in migrants crossing the southern border, which reached record levels last month.
"It's all politics. It's a vicious business. So that's the way it is."
Before arriving in Normandy, where he delivered a soaring address praising “the very greatest Americans who will ever live” and honoring surviving veterans of the famed Allied assault on the Nazis, the president also turned the subject to his ongoing trade war with China, threatening to slap tariffs on yet another $300 billion in goods.
“In the meantime, we're getting 25 percent on $250 billion, and I can go up another at least $300 billion,” he said. “And I'll do that at the right time.”
With that, he made to leave, telling reporters: “But I think China wants to make a deal badly. I think Mexico wants to make a deal badly. And I'm going to Normandy.”
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine