President Donald Trump released a video of White House Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter Navarro explaining the history behind tariffs.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump posted a video in which Navarro explained how people such as Alexander Hamilton and Henry Clay have advocated for tariffs throughout the history of the United States. Navarro noted how Hamilton believed that the U.S. “needed tariffs to defend its young industries from British domination.”

“April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again,” Trump says at the beginning of the video.

Navarro then begins to explain that Trump “imposed tariffs on countries around the world.”

“Trumpnomics’ goal is not only to reduce America’s trade deficit, it is to defend American workers and factories against unfair trade practices, while encouraging trillions of dollars in investment in new American plant and equipment,” Navarro says. “The policy is working for America, and no one should be surprised by this.”

“This is because before the tariff became synonymous with President Donald Trump, generations of American statesmen built the foundation for today’s America First agenda,” Navarro continued. “Their ideas were rooted in three core principles: sovereignty, security, and the protection of American workers. Economic nationalism, also known as economic populism, isn’t new. It’s a return to the proven economic model that built the greatest industrial power in world history.”

Navarro continued to explain how Alexander Hamilton was the “original architect of American economic nationalism.”

“In his report on manufacturers, Hamilton laid it out clearly,” Navarro continued. “United States needed tariffs to defend its young industries from British domination, and to secure true independence — not just politically, but economically. Hamilton knew that if America relied on foreign powers for manufactured goods, it would always be vulnerable.”

“Decades later, Henry Clay carried Hamilton’s vision forward,” Navarro continued. “His American system prioritized three things: a strong national bank, major infrastructure investment, and above all, protective tariffs. Clay said it best in 1824, ‘The tariff is to tax the produce of foreign industry with the view of promoting American industry.’”

“It’s the same logic President Trump used nearly 200 years later when he invoked Section 232 to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum to stop foreign overproduction and dumping from crushing American jobs,” Navarro continued.

Navarro continued on to explain how former President Abraham Lincoln “understood the value of tariffs.”

“During the Civil War, tariff revenues helped finance the Union army, and after the war, they fueled a rapid industrial expansion,” Navarro continued. “Lincoln knew that protecting American industry meant protecting American workers and protecting the American nation itself.”

Navarro continued to point out that “the fake news wants us to believe these are fringe ideas,” adding that history teaches us that they are “the American tradition.”

“President Trump’s trade agenda, especially his bold use of tariffs, draws along this long line of economic nationalism,” Navarro said. “From Hamilton to Clay, from Lincoln to McKinley, and now President Donald John Trump, the core idea has remained the same. Put American workers first, build American industry, protect American sovereignty. This is the heart of the America First agenda. It’s not new, it’s certainly not radical. It’s the most American economic policy in history. Five leaders, one philosophy, make tariffs great again, make America great again.”