Quick Hit:

President Donald Trump’s temporary pause on tariffs isn't a retreat—it’s a calculated move to generate leverage on the world stage and bring jobs back to America. As David Marcus argued in a Fox News op-ed, critics who declared Trump had caved to market pressure misunderstood the real objective: reshaping global trade in a way that puts American workers and industries first. By Thursday, the 47th president had imposed the largest tariff hikes in decades while rallying global leaders to the negotiating table.

Key Details:

• Trump implemented a 90-day pause on tariffs for 75 nations that didn’t retaliate and requested time to negotiate.

• Major tariffs remain: 125% on China, 25% on select Canadian and Mexican goods, and a 10% blanket tariff on most other imports.

• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick emphasized the move gives the U.S. room to “take on China” while providing space for negotiation.

Diving Deeper:

In his April 10 piece, "Trump's Tariff Triumph Big Step for America's Comeback," Fox News columnist David Marcus dismantled the media narrative that President Trump’s temporary tariff pause was a sign of weakness. Instead, Marcus presented it as a deliberate flex of Trump’s famed negotiation prowess: “While critics claimed Trump had lost, he was doing what he does best: creating leverage.”

The 90-day suspension applies to 75 nations that chose not to retaliate and instead requested a chance to come to the table. By waiting out market turbulence and resetting the playing field, Trump not only calmed Wall Street but secured what Marcus called “a historic tariff regime.” He wrote, “By Thursday morning, Trump had slammed communist China with a whopping 125% tariff… and had nations lined up outside the White House to negotiate like it was the Olympic opening ceremonies.”

Far from surrendering, Trump tightened the economic vise on America’s adversaries while demonstrating his administration’s strategic patience. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Special Report that the move allows the U.S. to “take on China” while giving allies a “chance to negotiate.”

Marcus criticized both Democrats and “free-marketeer conservatives” who cheered what they misread as a Trump cave-in. “Make no mistake,” Marcus warned, “those accusing Trump of folding would have called the tariffs he landed at on Wednesday unconscionable” just two months ago. Yet the president walked away with the biggest tariff hike in decades and a stock market rally.

But the driving force behind this strategy isn’t mere economic muscle—it’s the revival of American industry. “The good news for working-class Americans… is that the effort to restore American manufacturing is only getting started,” Marcus declared. While elite libertarians and establishment Republicans have given up on America’s small towns, Trump hasn’t. “It is also a matter of national security, of being capable of making our own weapons, pharmaceuticals and computer chips,” Marcus added.

Free-market purists, he argued, still fail to grasp the broader stakes. “Tariffs and trade deals are not just economic issues, they are very much cultural issues as well,” Marcus wrote, pointing to the COVID lockdown era as an example of how economic data alone can’t measure the health of a nation. “Would any of us say that 2020 was a great time?” he asked. “Of course not.”

Even now, foreign governments like Canada are spending money on billboard campaigns in Florida declaring, “Tariffs Are Taxes,” desperate to sway American opinion. But Marcus said the American public isn’t buying it: “Those who believe in Trump’s vision to transform American manufacturing are heeding the president’s soothing advice to ‘be cool,’ and support his America first agenda.”

Ultimately, Marcus sees Trump’s move not as a retreat, but as a tactical advance—rooted in principle, strength, and a vision of national renewal. “Trump understands that global trade is about much, much more than money,” he concluded.