Trump says he doesn’t care if tariffs raise some car prices: Takeaways
The president also told NBC News he doesn’t plan to fire any of the top security officials involved in a leaked Signal group chat where plans to attack the Houthis in Yemen were discussed.
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President Donald Trump said he “couldn’t care less” if his signature tariffs raise the prices of foreign vehicles for Americans in an interview with NBC News on Saturday.
The president on the campaign trail vowed to lower prices for consumers, but some experts have warned that the cost of tariffs will ultimately be passed along to Americans. While Trump and his administration have argued the costs will spur people to buy products made in the U.S., even American car companies aren’t making every part or assembling all their vehicles here.
The president also told the outlet he doesn’t plan to fire anyone involved in the Signal group chat where top intelligence officials discussed military attack plans in front of a journalist. In another interview on Sunday, he said he was “pissed off” over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Here’s what to know about Trump’s wide-ranging conversations with NBC News.
Spiking auto prices
Trump said he “couldn’t care less” if foreign car prices go up after he imposed 25% tariffs on imported automobiles earlier this week.
“The message is congratulations, if you make your car in the United States, you’re going to make a lot of money,” Trump said on his bottom line to auto executives. “If you don’t, you’re going to have to probably come to the United States, because if you make your car in the United States, there is no tariff.”
The tariffs also apply to to some imported auto parts, including engines and transmissions, but vehicles that fall under the umbrella of imports protected in the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement aren’t subject to the full tariff rate. Instead, the U.S will only levy tariffs on the foreign parts that make up vehicles imported from Canada and Mexico.
Car companies, including those that assemble vehicles in the U.S., typically use parts sourced from around the world. And many American brands like General Motors have assembly plants in other countries. Both factors may push the price of vehicles up.
“I couldn’t care less,” Trump said, his team later clarifying to NBC that he was referring specifically to foreign car prices. “I hope they raise their prices, because if they do, people are gonna buy American-made cars. We have plenty.”
Signal chat fallout
Trump also told NBC he does not plan to fire any of the top security officials involved in a leaked Signal group chat where plans to attack the Houthis in Yemen were discussed.
“I don’t fire people because of fake news and because of witch hunts,” Trump said, adding that the security mishap “shouldn’t be talked” about.
“We had a tremendously successful strike. We struck very hard and very lethal. And nobody wants to talk about that,” he said. “All they want to talk about is nonsense.”
On Monday, Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealed he was inadvertently included on a Signal group chat by Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security advisor. The chat included Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, among others.
On the chat, Hegseth shared detailed plans for an attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen, including strike times and weapons details, raising concerns about how the administration is handling sensitive national security information. The White House has repeatedly said no classified information was shared.
“I have no idea what Signal is. I don’t care what Signal is,” Trump told NBC on Saturday.
Annexing Greenland – potentially with military force
Trump also told NBC that he has had serious conversations about annexing Greenland, the Arctic island that is currently a semiautonomous territory of Denmark.
There’s a “good possibility that we could do it without military force,” he said, but “I don’t take anything off the table.”
The comments come the day after Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, visited the Pittufik Space Base in Greenland, where he said to Denmark: “You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland.” His visit was scaled back after residents and officials said they would protest.
Trump has repeatedly said he wants to acquire the Arctic territory, despite resistance from Greenlanders. “One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” he told Congress in a joint address earlier this month.
Asked by NBC what message acquiring Greenland would send to Russia, which has sought to expand its own territorial footprint, and the rest of the world, Trump said: “I don’t really think about that. I don’t really care. Greenland’s a very separate subject, very different. It’s international peace. It’s international security and strength.”
‘Pissed off’ at Putin, potential Iran deal
Greenland wasn’t the only foreign nation Trump addressed during the interviews. He also told NBC he was “pissed off” when Putin criticized the credibility of Zelenskyy’s leadership.
The president said he would impose secondary tariffs of 25% to 50% on all Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, and they could be imposed within a month if there is no ceasefire. He said the tariffs on Russian oil would come within a month without a ceasefire deal.
Trump also threatened Iran with bombings and secondary tariffs if Tehran did not come to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear program. He said U.S. and Iranian officials were talking but did not elaborate.
“If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing,” Trump said. “But there’s a chance that if they don’t make a deal, that I will do secondary tariffs on them like I did four years ago.”
‘Not joking’ about a third term
Trump also did not rule out running for a third term, even though its prohibited by the U.S. Constitution, adding that he was “not joking.”
“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump said. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.”
Trump said he’s “focused on the current” term, but asked whether he wants a third term he said: “I like working.”
“I’m not joking,” he said when asked to clarify. “But I’m not − it is far too early to think about it.”
The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution bars people from being elected to the presidency more than twice.
There are only two ways to change the Constitution: An amendment can be proposed by Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate, or two-thirds of state legislatures can call a constitutional convention. Then three-fourths of the state legislatures or conventions (38 of 50) must ratify it.
Contributing: Reuters
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