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DONALD Trump is right when it comes to reversing America’s trade deficit with China or cutting government waste but a “chainsaw-like” approach isn’t the best way forward, Anthony Scaramucci has warned.
Former White House Director of Communications Scaramucci, who served in Trump’s administration for just 11 days in 2017, said the president must adopt a “surgical” approach as he tackles the domestic and foreign policy challenges in front of him.
Trump championed his America First agenda on the campaign trail, throwing red meat to voters who felt they had been by unfairly treated by globalization.
And before even taking office, Trump threatened to whack tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China.
While Trump paused tariffs on Mexico and Canada following last-ditch talks with the nations’ presidents, levies have been imposed on Chinese goods.
Trump has proceeded despite the risk of short-term economic pain.
Sitting down with the investment platform Saxo, hedge fund founder Scaramucci admitted there is a method behind Trump’s policies.
“There’s always a kernel of truth in what Trump is doing,” he said.
“Trump is right that over 80 years in order to protect American workers, we need to rightsize tariffs.
“But again it’s about how you go about it which is the more important thing. Surgically.”
Scaramucci, who has been an arch critic of the president, admitted there are several policy areas where Trump has a point.
“Trump is right about the Chinese taking advantage of the trade system due to the negligence of western leaders,” he said.
“Trump is right that Europeans now have to increase their burden of defense.
“He’s right about the American southern border and the fentanyl traffic, and that there’s too much bloat in the federal government.”
Scaramucci warned that Trump must go about the process democratically.
Who is Anthony Scaramucci?
Anthony Scaramucci served as Donald Trump’s White House Director of Communications for just 11 days in the summer of 2017.
He held the position from July 20 until July 31, 2017.
Scaramucci holds the record of being the shortest serving comms chief in White House history.
Before entering the realm of politics, Scaramucci worked in finance.
He studied at Harvard Law School and joined Goldman Sachs in 1989.
But Scaramucci was fired after just 18 months.
He was later rehired by the company and in 1993 became the vice president of the Private Wealth Management division.
Scaramucci founded the venture capital company Oscar Capital Management before launching SkyBridge Capital in 2005.
After serving under President Trump, Scaramucci often appears on networks such as CNBC to discuss markets and economics.
He also stars on The Rest is Politics US podcast alongside renowned journalist Katty Kay.
Source: All American Speakers
Trump returned to office at a time when America’s trade deficit with Beijing stood at more than $295 billion in 2024.
This marked a 5.8% increase compared to 2023, as per the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
The US has not a trade surplus since 1975.
A China-US trade war has resurfaced with Trump having slapped 10% tariffs on Chinese imports earlier this month.
Trump is using tariffs as a way of punishing China for its alleged role in the fentanyl crisis.
The president believes China has not done enough when it comes to cracking down on the production of chemicals used in creating the drug.
“China hopefully is going to stop sending us fentanyl, and if they’re not, the tariffs are going to go substantially higher,” he said.
Beijing has retaliated with a 15% tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas and a 10% penalty on crude oil and agricultural machinery.
Last week, Trump hurled an economic grenade by unleashing sweeping revenge tariffs on every nation that taxes American goods.
But, fears are rising that the economic measures could cause short-term pain.
“My view is it would mean a real shock to the American economy,” Gary Hufbauer, an economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told USA Today.
He’s right about the American southern border and the fentanyl traffic, and that there’s too much bloat in the federal government
Anthony Scaramucci
The short-term pain is despite Trump’s campaign promise to lower costs for Americans.
Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden’s term was plagued with high inflation, which reached a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022.
And even though China has seen economic stagnation, Beijing has not disappeared and remains a threat to the geopoltical order.
Beijing still views Taiwan as a renegade province and its imperialistic ambitions have not disappeared.
But, China and tariffs are not the only issue in President Trump’s in-tray.
CUTTING WASTE
Domestically, Trump has enlisted Tesla tycoon Elon Musk to trim government waste.
Musk spearheads the newly created Department of Government Efficiency and is trying to find around $2trillion worth of savings.
And Musk’s team has uncovered significant areas of government waste.
Republican senator Chuck Grassley uncovered that the US Air Force spent $32,000 replacing 25 coffee cups, per Fox News.
And, the Air Force was overcharged by 8,000% for soap dispensers.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt exposed how taxpayers money had been spent.
She revealed $47,000 had been allocated for a transgender opera in Colombia, and $1.5 million had been invested in advancing diversity, equality, and inclusion in Serbian workplaces.
But, Musk is not an elected official and critics have warned he is not accountable like a politician in Congress.
And, two Republican budget experts fear Musk’s Doge project is being driven by ideology.
“They are not going to go into agencies that are doing things they like,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Republican director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) told Reuters.
“They are going into agencies they disagree with.”
And ex-Republican staffer Bill Hoagland said the cost-cutting drive taps into Trump’s base.
Doge and cost-cutting are likely to feature heavily in Musk and Trump’s sit-down with Fox News titan Sean Hannity that will air this week.
