President-elect Donald Trump fired back at The Washington Post on Monday, calling claims that he's close to breaking a key part of his campaign pledge "just another example of Fake News."
The Post story, written by White House economics reporter Jeff Stein, claimed that instead of moving forward with Trump's campaign pledge to impose "universal tariffs" of up to 20 percent on all goods imported to the United States, Trump's team is now considering tariffs only for "certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security."
Stein cited three anonymous sources in the story, and wrote that changing the parameters of universal tariffs "would jettison a key aspect of Trump’s campaign pledge, at least for now." Stein added that, "no decisions have been finalized and that planning remains in flux."
Trump wrote on TruthSocial Monday morning, "The story in the Washington Post, quoting so-called anonymous sources, which don't exist, incorrectly states that my tariff policy will be pared back. That is wrong. The Washington Post knows it's wrong. It's just another example of Fake News."
Also read: 'Bring it on': Defiant Raskin responds to GOP threats of retaliation for J6 investigation
Stein's story claimed that the "critical" sectors affected by Trump's pared-back plan could include, "the defense industrial supply chain (through tariffs on steel, iron, aluminum and copper); critical medical supplies (syringes, needles, vials and pharmaceutical materials); and energy production (batteries, rare earth minerals and even solar panels)."
Economists and even some congressional Republicans have condemned Trump's original tariff plan as "disruptive" to the American economy, which would be felt immediately at the grocery story.
Trump also threatened Mexico and Canada with 25 percent tariffs and an additional 10 percent tariff on China if they don't stop the what he called the influx of drugs and migrants into the United States.
"Even the revamped plans are strikingly aggressive," Stein wrote. "The Trump team’s plans would, if put into effect, amount to one of the biggest challenges in decades to the global trade order. Trump’s advisers view this effort as necessary to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. economy, but it could invite retaliation from the rest of the world and drive prices up for consumers and businesses alike."
