Just as US President Donald Trump was in the middle of announcing his proposed "reciprocal tariffs" on Thursday (Feb 13), a reporter quipped with a question and was met with a stark reply.  

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Trump was attending a press event at the White House, signing an executive order on the tariffs. 

CNN's Kaitlan Collins, in the middle of the event, began to ask Trump, "Mr. President, you won the White House, in part because of high inflation. If your tariffs make prices go up..."

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Trump hushed her down, saying, "Excuse me, we haven't asked you to speak yet, please."

Trump was showing the executive order to the journalists for the pictures when he was interrupted by Collins. 

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This happened during a formal session at the White House's Oval Office, where Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on imports to the US. 

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While speaking in the Oval Office, he told reporters that US allies were often "worse than our enemies" on trade issues. The levies would be tailored to each US trading partner and consider factors like Value Added Tax (VAT).

"I've decided for purposes of fairness that I will charge a reciprocal tariff," Trump declared during the proclamation signing. “It's fair to all. No other country can complain.”

"No more or no less… They charge us a tax or tariff, and we charge the exact same tax or tariff… nobody knows what that number is… you go to an individual country and see what they are charging us," Donald Trump said.

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This happened just hours before Trump was about to meet Indian PM Narendra Modi. Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised India’s high tariff barriers.

(With inputs from agencies)