EXCLUSIVE: Navarro: “We’re Moving Forward on a Measured Way With Tariffs”
EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.): Trump “Should Act Decisively” on Syria, “He Will Make it Very Clear that He Believes that Russia is Also Responsible” for Chemical Attack
PLUS: Rounds Defends EPA Admin. Pruitt: “He’s Executing What the President Wants Him to Execute”
ALSO: Cambridge Analytica Co-Founder Says Number “Could Be Higher” Than 87 Million in Facebook Data Breach
APRIL 8, 2018 – “It’s both,” said Peter Navarro, director for the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, when asked by “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd if the administration wants to have it both ways, telling the Chinese, “We’re serious about tariffs,” but then telling the public, “It’s a negotiating tactic.”
Navarro then said, “I don’t believe if you played back what I said just a minute ago that I said was a negotiating tactic, it’s not. We’re listening to the Chinese.” He added: “We’re moving forward on a measured way with tariffs, with investment restrictions … What we want from China is very clear: We want fair and reciprocal trade. We want them to stop stealing our stuff.”
Navarro addressed a recent report from The Washington Post on White House Chief of Staff John Kelly threatening to resign on multiple occasions: “He has the confidence of the president, and he’s getting the job done. When you read stuff in The Washington Post, frankly, that’s fake news most of the time.” Todd replied, “That’s a cheap shot. The term “fake news” is not exactly a way to hold up the First Amendment.” Watch the interview.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) joined the show in an exclusive interview, telling Todd that, on the chemical weapons attack, President Trump “should act decisively, and I think he will hold not just Syria, but I think he will make it very clear that he believes that Russia is also responsible.” Chuck noted: “The Russian Foreign Ministry is saying, “this is fake news,” this idea that there even was a chemical weapons attack [in Syria].”
Rounds also said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt should remain in his position “because he’s following through with the policies that the president said he wanted to implement.” He added: “We’ll nitpick little things. He has too many people on his security detail. It may add up to more than what the previous guy did. … We said we had to have regulatory reform. We’ve got it. Scott Pruitt is a big part of that. He’s executing what the president wants him to execute.” Watch the full interview.
Christopher Wylie, co-founder of Cambridge Analytica, told Todd the number “could be higher” than 87 million whose personal Facebook data was misused by Cambridge Analytica, and the data “could be stored in various parts of the world, including Russia.”
He asked, “Why is it that Mark Zuckerberg won’t actually bother to come and attend a Parliamentary inquiry here in the U.K., as everyone else is?” Wylie also shared he’s been contacted and is cooperating with congressional investigations and also law enforcement and the Department of Justice. Watch the full interview.
Charlie Cook of The Cook Political Report, Helene Cooper of The New York Times, presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and Rich Lowry of National Review joined the broadcast’s roundtable for insight and analysis, including on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifying on the Hill this week. “If he had immediately gone up to Congress, it would have been bad. Now, I think it’s going to be horrific,” said Cook.
Read the full transcript of this morning’s “Meet the Press” on MeetThePress.com.
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NBC NEWS’ “MEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD”
“Meet the Press with Chuck Todd” is where newsmakers come to make news — setting the political agenda and spotlighting the impact Washington decision-making has on Americans across the country. It is the #1 most-watched Sunday public affairs show across the board for the 2016-2017 season, reaching more than three million viewers every Sunday and millions more through social, digital and on-demand platforms. “Meet the Press” brings its authority and influencer interviews to MSNBC with “MTP Daily” weekdays at 5 p.m. ET and to the “1947: The Meet the Press Podcast”. It’s the longest-running show in television history, having celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2017 with the launch of its first-ever film festival in collaboration with the American Film Institute this November. Chuck Todd is the political director of NBC News and the moderator of “Meet the Press“; John Reiss is the executive producer.
