White House’s impatience for trade deals grows as economic anxiety builds

On President Donald Trump’s 101st day in office, he warned that children may have to shrink their toy chests as tariffs raise the price of dolls from China.

On his 100th day in office, President Donald Trump crowed to a rally of supporters about a dawning “golden age” for the American economy, made possible by his new tariffs. On his 101st, he warned in a different setting that children may have to shrink their toy chests as the tariffs raise the price of dolls from China. For Trump, an uncertain economy and a long-term plan to restore US manufacturing come with a messaging challenge: how to explain to Americans who elected him on a promise to lower prices that, in fact, it is higher prices they should prepare for in the immediate future. Trump’s solution so far has been to embrace the good and mostly blame the bad — including a negative gross domestic product report Wednesday — on his predecessor Joe Biden, whose name was uttered 51 times in Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting. And as he did this week, Trump has shifted his message based on who’s listening. His rally north of Detroit on Tuesday made little mention of “transition period” pain that could result from the tariffs. A day later, however, he said frankly that Americans may need to adjust their consumption and spending habits. “You know, somebody said, ‘Oh, the shelves, they’re going to be open,’” he said. “Well maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.”