In-town pool report #4 - notes from Cabinet meeting

The Cabinet meeting ended at 2:00pm. Trump took a handful of questions from the pool. Some notable moments below. Here is the livestream .

Trump punted to Bessent when asked about today's market dive, saying he hasn't seen anything yet because he's been in the Cabinet meeting. Bessent predicted that as negotiations play out, "we will end up in a place of great certainty over the next 90 days with tariffs." Bessent added: “I don’t see anything unusual today.”

Trump said if deals aren't reached, higher tariffs will come back. He declined to rule out the possibility of extending the 90-day pause he placed on his “reciprocal” tariffs yesterday.

On the escalating trade war with China, Trump said "I have great respect for president Xi... he's been a friend of mine for a long period of time. I think that we'll end up working out something that's very good for both countries. I look forward to it."

“We’ll see what happens with China. We would love to be able to work a deal. They’ve really taken advantage of our country for a long period of time,” Trump said. He brushed off China's move to cut the number of American movies shown in the nation. “I think I’ve heard of worse things,” he said, eliciting some laughs among his Cabinet in the room.

Earlier, Trump said his administration will work with farmers who are in the country illegally. "If they have strong recommendations for their farms, for certain people, we're going to let them stay in for a while," he said. "Work with the farmers, and then come back and go through a process, a legal process, but we have to take care of our farmers."

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced that the Trump Administration will release files related to the 1968 assassinations of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the coming days. She said those papers “have been sitting in boxes in storage for decades.” “We’ve been scanning – we’ve had over 100 people working around the clock to scan the paper around RFK – Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination, as well as Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination," Gabbard said.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the U.S. will not negotiate with people accused of attacking or vandalizing Teslas and Tesla dealerships: “And you know, you also gave us a directive to prosecute the people who are going after Tesla, to the fullest extent of the law, some of the greatest police work I’ve seen. We’ve made four arrests,” Bondi said. “There will be no negotiations at your directive... They’re all looking at 20 years in prison.”

Nik Popli

Politics Reporter

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