Economist Stephen Moore to Newsmax: 'Never Bet Against Donald J. Trump'

President Donald Trump's deal-making ability could lead to his tariffs being relatively short-lived, economist Stephen Moore told Newsmax.

Moore was asked on Monday night's "Rob Schmitt Tonight" whether Trump's leverage with tariffs could lead to better deals that put the U.S. in "a very positive place and feeling very good" in a week or so.

"Let me put it like this way: I would never, never bet against Donald J. Trump. He's an incredible negotiator," Moore told host Rob Schmitt in a joint appearance with publishing executive Steve Forbes. "I think he's playing the hand right now.

"I like the reciprocal tariffs. Don't like some of these, you know, tariffs on autos and things like that. I don't think they really work too well. But if we can force other countries to lower their tariffs, then I think we get we get more international trade. And that's a good thing for everybody."

Moore and Forbes appeared with Schmitt on a day major stock indexes were down but bounced off the day's lows in choppy trading as the White House denied a report Trump is considering a 90-day pause in tariffs for all countries except China. The U.S. dollar was higher.

Wall Street indexes started the day sharply lower but reversed course after a report that White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said in an interview that Trump was considering the 90-day tariff pause.

Moore and Forbes each gave their respective take on the day's events.

"What happened was it became clear the administration was willing to negotiate on these things. And so therefore, they weren't fixed in stone," Forbes said. "And so he [Trump] already authorized, during the day, Treasury Secretary [Scott] Bessent and the trade representative to start talking to negotiators with Japan. I think that was the signal, OK, this thing can be ameliorated.

"And when the markets see hope, they begin to respond positively. If nothing had been done, you would have seen a big crash. But the president indicated that what he did last Tuesday, well, maybe that can be changed, if you make a good deal with us."

Moore said markets also were aided by Trump's "declaration" that any revenues raised from the tariffs would be used to offset tax cuts.

"I think what happened was that in the morning, you know, we were down about 1,000 points. And then Trump made this declaration that any revenues raised from the tariffs would be used to offset other Steve Forbes type of tax cuts, like lower tax rates on income and maybe payroll tax cuts. And that, I think, had a had a very positive effect on the market," Moore said.

"I'm hearing from my source in the White House that there's something like 75 nations now that have been getting on that phone with Trump making the phone calls saying they want to make a deal. That's, I think, what we'd all love to see. Let's get this over with.

"I think in the end of the day, this could work out in a way that leads to freer and fair trade, which is I know what we'd all like to see."

Reuters contributed to this story.

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