Donald Trump's biggest lie of the day so far is that he warned everyone about his tariff "transition period" during his campaign.
In an interview with ABC News, Trump said, "I said all of these things during my campaign. I said, 'You're gonna have a transition period.'"
In fact, while Trump was campaigning, he promised the opposite: "Starting on day one, we will end inflation" and swore "Smart tariffs will not create inflation." He even doubled down with "I agree it's going to have a massive effect – positive effect," and that his tariffs would make Americans "so rich" that they were "not going to be a cost to you."
From CNN:
"So, when I win, I will immediately bring prices down," he said at an August 2024 press conference. At various 2024 rallies, he recited this promise: "Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again." He emphasized speed at rallies two days before Election Day, saying,"Wait 'til you see how fast we're going to get it going. We'll get the prices down," and, "We're going to get those prices down.
We're going to get them down quickly."
Apparently, MAGA hats come with built-in amnesia features.
The White House, scrambled to find evidence of these mythical warnings. They came up with exactly one post-election quote:
When CNN asked the White House on Wednesday for any evidence for Trump's claim about his campaign rhetoric, a White House official responded, on condition of anonymity, by providing a single link – to a comment Trump made in an interview more than a month after the election, as president-elect, in which he said he "can't guarantee" Americans wouldn't have to pay more because of tariffs.
Even in that interview, Trump said "I don't believe that" consumers ultimately pay tariffs. Regardless, a post-campaign comment clearly doesn't corroborate Trump's claim about what he said during the campaign.
This latest piece of creative remembering comes hot on the heels of Trump claiming that the 54 times he promised to end the Ukraine war immediately were made "in jest" — because declaring your campaign promises were just a comedy routine is peak MAGA.
Previously: Trump staffers are hoarding toilet paper and cash while telling you everything's fine
