Donald Trump forcefully defended his tariffs on Thursday, saying “tariffs are my favorite word in the dictionary” and touting their use to power American manufacturing at an event in northwest Georgia.
“Without tariffs, this country would be in a lot of trouble right now,” Trump said during his remarks at Coosa Steel Corp., a steel-processing and distribution company in Rome, Georgia.
He lamented having to wait for a US Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of his trade policy, attributing the lawsuit to “China-oriented” people and Canadian bias.
“I am waiting for a decision from the Supreme Court,” he said, “to uphold this, because people have come from other countries and ripped us off for 50 years”.
Trump’s visit to Georgia, a key battleground state in this year’s midterm elections, is apparently intended to boost his economy amid lagging approval numbers. But Trump focused much of his remarks on his repeated unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud.
Trump, a Democrat who has expressed unwillingness to support the Save America Act, which would curtail voting by mail, requires voters to present a photo ID at the ballot box and proof of citizenship when registering. The legislation passed the House last week, but is unlikely to move to the Senate without lawmakers first ending the filibuster.
“The Democrats don’t want to give us Voter ID because they want to cheat … They say they don’t want Voter ID because it’s racist,” Trump said. “We need voter ID and proof of citizenship … they’re fighting.”
Trump argued against mail-in ballots, saying mail-in voting should be reserved for deployed military service members or people who are sick or away from home: “With mail-in ballots, they cheat.”
Mail-in voting fraud is exceptionally rare, and Trump has offered no evidence that Democrats are using the system to fraudulently try to win elections.
Referring to a court case stemming from an FBI raid last month that seized 2020 election materials, Trump described the fight to return ballots to Fulton County control as vicious.
“Why don’t they want to see the ballots after all these years? It’s because they cheated,” he said. “They cheated like dogs.”
An affidavit unsealed after the raid revealed that the rationale for the investigation was based on dismissed claims from conservative activists who had long rejected the results of the 2020 election.
Trump chose a competitive area for his visit Thursday: Marjorie Taylor Green’s former district. The resignation of a former US representative in January opened up a seat with a razor-thin majority for Republicans in the House. Early voting is underway for the March 10 election, which could result in an April runoff between the top two candidates.
Trump’s visit bolstered his endorsement of Clay Fuller, a former White House aide who serves as a North Georgia district attorney and reserve lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. The president’s approval field has narrowed, with 18 candidates now in the running, including three Democrats. With less of a split among Democrats, retired Army general and 2024 nominee Shawn Harris is likely to run against the front-runner who has garnered Republican votes.
Appearing on Thursday’s program, Fuller praised Trump’s stance on the economy and “the war on inflation that President Trump should have inherited from President Biden.” He jokingly told Trump that he wanted to apologize to his child for not going to school to attend the rally.
Trump also praised Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who is running for governor in a field recently joined by Jackson Healthcare founder Rick Jackson. Jones “has been with you from the beginning and with me,” Trump said.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin Trump said healthcare premiums for 1.4 million Georgians will double on average this year and 500,000 will lose their health care entirely because of “Trump’s big ugly bill and refusal to extend ACA subsidies.”
Democrats who are “captive” to insurance companies have a Republican initiative to redirect insurance subsidies to direct payments to beneficiaries, Trump said in his remarks: “We lowered drug prices … We were paying the highest drug prices in the world and now we’re paying the lowest prices in the world.”
Trump reiterated comments he made last month that he had struck a deal with French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron to raise drug prices in France after threats of tariffs on French exports. have done Macron forcefully denied the claim, writing on social media platform X: “President @EmmanuelMacron claims to have raised the prices of medicines. He does not set their prices. They are controlled by the social security system and are in fact fixed. Anyone who has set foot in a French pharmacy knows this.”
