&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Trump wants to ‘do the AI thing, not make T-shirts’—while his store pushes TRUMP2028 merchandise")
US President Donald Trump on Sunday (May 25) defended his tariff policy, saying the United States aims to make military equipment, not sneakers and T-shirts.
“We're not looking to make sneakers and T-shirts. We want to make military equipment. We want to make big things. We want to make, do the AI thing,” Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One in New Jersey.
“I’m not looking to make T-shirts, to be honest. I'm not looking to make socks. We can do that very well in other locations. We are looking to do chips and computers and lots of other things, and tanks and ships,” said the US president, who ironically has his own merchandise brand, Trump Store, which sells a wide range of products including his famous MAGA hats and apparel. Recently, the Trump Store has also launched ‘TRUMP2028’ merchandise on its website.
Also read | ‘Not Trump’s war’: US President calls Putin ‘CRAZY’, blames Zelensky for ‘causing problems’
Trump added that he agrees with the comments made by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on April 29 that the US does not necessarily need a “booming textile industry”, drawing criticism from the National Council of Textile Organizations.
The American Apparel & Footwear Association also said that the tariffs are not good for the industry. “More tariffs will only mean higher input costs for US manufacturers and higher prices that will hurt lower-income consumers,” AAPA President Steve Lamar said in a statement.
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Trump delays EU tariffs
On Sunday (May 25), Trump also said that he will delay the 50 per cent tariff on imports from the European Union, extending his deadline for trade talks from June 1 until July 9.
This comes after Trump had a call with the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen. According to Trump, she “wants to get down to serious negotiations.”
“I told anybody that would listen, they have to do that,” Trump told reporters. He added that Von der Leyen vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out.”
Earlier on Friday (May 23), Trump threatened to impose a 50 per cent tariff starting June 1, claiming that the 27-member bloc had been “very difficult to deal with” on trade, adding that the negotiations were “going nowhere”.
