Trump defends his ‘America First’ economic policies

Washington — President Donald Trump on Tuesday offered a lengthy public defense of his economic record, saying his “America First” policies and the radical views of his potential Democratic opponents should guarantee his reelection.

“You have no choice ’cuz the people we’re running against are crazy. They’re crazy,” the president said.

Speaking before the Economic Club of New York, the president insisted he was “close” to a partial trade deal with China. But in response to a question, he said that he was prepared to punish Beijing with still higher tariffs if the talks stalled.

“If we don’t make a deal, we’re going to substantially raise those tariffs,” he said.

The U.S. levies tariffs on $360 billion in Chinese products and is scheduled to hit all remaining imports — including popular consumer goods — starting Dec. 15.

A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.

The president’s campaign-style remarks, in the same midtown Hilton Hotel ballroom where he welcomed his improbable 2016 election triumph, came as Washington braced for the start of public hearings in the House impeachment inquiry.

The roughly hour-long speech was a “greatest hits” of Trump’s economic record. In the president’s telling, he rescued the nation from a “slow inevitable decline” that would have decimated the struggling middle class with “a new economic policy that finally puts America first.”

By cutting taxes, slashing regulations and targeting foreign trade cheats, the president paved the way for what he called “an unprecedented tide of prosperity surging all throughout the nation.”