Tensions flared at the White House on Monday as Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy confronted Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt over the Trump administration\u2019s tight-lipped handling of new international trade proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a press briefing, Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump\u2019s administration has received eighteen<\/em> formal trade offers from foreign governments \u2014 a notable milestone in the White House\u2019s aggressive post-inauguration trade strategy. However, specifics about these offers remain under wraps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got at least 18 written trade proposals,\u201d Doocy asked bluntly. \u201cWe still don\u2019t know who sent them or what they say. What\u2019s the holdup?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leavitt stood firm, denying any delays. \u201cThere\u2019s no holdup,\u201d she replied. \u201cWe\u2019re working around the clock.\u201d She emphasized that the trade team is operating \u201c24\/7\u201d to finalize deals that will favor American industries, adding that President Trump is expected to personally share more information later this week. \u201cI don\u2019t want to get ahead of the president,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The press briefing followed Trump\u2019s April 9 announcement on Truth Social of a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs \u2014 a move intended to give other countries time to submit \u201cfair\u201d trade proposals. China, notably, was excluded from this temporary pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talks with South Korea appear to be gaining momentum. Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently said negotiations with Seoul are moving \u201cfaster than expected,\u201d hinting that a finalized agreement with the key U.S. ally may be on the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, Trump stirred headlines again on April 22, stating his intention to \u201csubstantially\u201d lower steep tariffs on Chinese imports \u2014 some of which have reached as high as 245%, according to April 15 White House reports. But that announcement has sparked confusion: Chinese officials deny that any talks are underway, contradicting the administration\u2019s stance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leavitt, speaking later on Fox News, clarified the U.S. position: \u201cThere will be no unilateral reduction in tariffs on China,\u201d she said, signaling that concessions will be required from Beijing if any progress is to be made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the mixed messaging, CNBC reported Treasury Secretary Bessent\u2019s comments that some form of \u201cde-escalation\u201d with China is likely. That glimmer of diplomacy comes amid growing tensions after Trump\u2019s early April tariff hikes triggered retaliatory moves from Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick remains actively engaged in talks, with Leavitt referencing weekend calls between Lutnick and Bessent as the administration continues navigating the complex web of global trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tensions flared at the White House on Monday as Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy confronted Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt over the Trump administration\u2019s tight-lipped handling of new international trade proposals. During a press briefing, Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump\u2019s administration has received eighteen formal trade offers from foreign governments \u2014 a notable milestone in the White House\u2019s aggressive post-inauguration trade strategy. However, specifics about these offers remain under wraps. \u201cYou\u2019ve got at least 18 written trade proposals,\u201d Doocy asked bluntly. \u201cWe still don\u2019t know who sent them or what they say. What\u2019s the holdup?\u201d Leavitt stood firm, denying any delays. \u201cThere\u2019s no holdup,\u201d she replied. \u201cWe\u2019re working around the clock.\u201d She emphasized that the trade team is operating \u201c24\/7\u201d to finalize deals that will favor American industries, adding that President Trump is expected to personally share more information later this week. \u201cI don\u2019t want to get ahead of the president,\u201d she said. The press briefing followed Trump\u2019s April 9 announcement on Truth Social of a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs \u2014 a move intended to give other countries time to submit \u201cfair\u201d trade proposals. China, notably, was excluded from this temporary pause. Talks with South Korea appear to be gaining momentum. Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently said negotiations with Seoul are moving \u201cfaster than expected,\u201d hinting that a finalized agreement with the key U.S. ally may be on the horizon. Meanwhile, Trump stirred headlines again on April 22, stating his intention to \u201csubstantially\u201d lower steep tariffs on Chinese imports \u2014 some of which have reached as high as 245%, according to April 15 White House reports. But that announcement has sparked confusion: Chinese officials deny that any talks are underway, contradicting the administration\u2019s stance. Leavitt, speaking later on Fox News, clarified the U.S. position: \u201cThere will be no unilateral reduction in tariffs on China,\u201d she said, signaling that concessions will be required from Beijing if any progress is to be made. Despite the mixed messaging, CNBC reported Treasury Secretary Bessent\u2019s comments that some form of \u201cde-escalation\u201d with China is likely. That glimmer of diplomacy comes amid growing tensions after Trump\u2019s early April tariff hikes triggered retaliatory moves from Beijing. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick remains actively engaged in talks, with Leavitt referencing weekend calls between Lutnick and Bessent as the administration continues navigating the complex web of global trade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-watch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/truepatriotbrief.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/truepatriotbrief.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/truepatriotbrief.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truepatriotbrief.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truepatriotbrief.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/truepatriotbrief.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100,"href":"https:\/\/truepatriotbrief.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions\/100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truepatriotbrief.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/99"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/truepatriotbrief.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truepatriotbrief.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/truepatriotbrief.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}