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Based on Donald Trump’s social media feed, the president spent much of his Friday morning binge-watching MSNBC and growing increasingly enraged by what the hosts had to say about his global trade war.
According to the president, who has repeatedly threatened the liberal cable news network with investigations amid his ongoing war against the mainstream media, MSNBC had committed a “Major Campaign Violation” and was “nothing less than an arm of the Democrat National Committee” because of a Morning Joe segment that was critical of his tariff plan.
Specifically, the president was incensed that MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle, who also serves as NBC News’ senior business analyst, said that he was looking to back down from his “Liberation Day” tariffs because of the looming recession and likely inflation caused by a self-imposed supply chain crisis.
“I just watched an exhausted, highly neurotic Stephanie Ruhle spew LIES about Tariffs, as do many others, in order not to give me the Victory that they all see coming. Few people know Stephanie Ruhle, but I do, and she doesn’t have what it takes,” Trump fumed on Truth Social.
Complaining that Ruhle wasn’t giving him enough credit for the trade deal he announced with Great Britain on Thursday, which has been described as “bargain basement” and putting “lipstick on a pig,” the president issued an implied threat to Brian Roberts, the chairman of MSNBC’s parent company Comcast.
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“We’re going to make a fortune with Tariffs, only smart people understand that, and Stephanie was never known as a ‘High IQ’ person,” he groused. “MSDNC has become the Voice of the Democrat Party, and they should be treated as a Political Advocate with all of the Taxes and Penalties therefrom. Their Ratings are terrible, but Brian Roberts and his crew should be forced to TELL THE TRUTH.”
In an earlier social media rant, which he posted minutes after Ruhle’s appearance on Morning Joe, Trump called the network the “worst there is on Television misrepresentation” before insisting that “their statements about me and Tariffs that it should be considered a Major Campaign Violation.”
Adding that the channel is an arm of the DNC, the president called MSNBC “real losers” before taking a shot at their viewership numbers – which have been on the rise since his inauguration. “Their ratings are down the tubes, but that pressure on them doesn’t give them the right to lie and cheat!” Trump concluded.
During the segment on Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough – who, along with his spouse/co-host Mika Brzezinski, met personally with Trump shortly after the election – said that the UK trade deal announcement amounted to nothing more than “showbiz” and “symbolism,” adding that there’s no reason anyone should be “freaking out” about it.
“Here’s the representative of the country that we have the most special relationship in the world,” Scarborough stated. “We’re gonna start here. I just don’t think the details right now matter, especially if you look back six months from now. This is the start of a symbolic process. That’s my take on it.”
Ruhle, meanwhile, took aim at the president’s declaration on Friday morning that the massive tariffs on China could be dropped to 80 percent ahead of negotiations, but that it was all up to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“Donald Trump is backed into a corner,” she noted. “His grand plans of tariffs, tariffs, tariffs aren’t working, right? You’re seeing day in and day out, more business leaders, whether it’s Warren Buffett or Jamie Dimon or Ken Griffin on big global stages saying this is going to crush us economically.”
Pointing out that American ports are already seeing fewer ships and cargo containers, Ruhle concluded that the president needs to quickly reverse course if he wants to avoid spiking inflation and an economic downturn.
“Unless he turns this around, three weeks from now you walk into a store and we’re going to have a COVID-like supply chain crisis,” she noted. “And Trump is looking for an exit. And while small businesses right now are saying, ‘I don’t see it yet I’m still panicked,’ Wall Street sees it.”
