CNN’s Zeleny on Trump Saying He’s Not Looking for a Deal with the E.U.: ‘Just Indicative of the President‘s Frustration’

JIMENEZ: “We also heard that when he was asked, are you looking for a deal in that 50 percent tariff rate, to give you an idea of the posturing, he said, ‘I‘m not looking for a deal. We‘ve set the deal at 50 percent,’ putting the onus on the EU, apparently. But we‘ve got CNN‘s Jeff Zeleny, who‘s with us now. Jeff, I know you were listening in on that, taking questions as he often does off the cuff, even for an executive order signing. What‘s — what stood out to you?”

ZELENY: “Well, look, President Trump was in the Oval Office signing a couple more executive orders on nuclear power, but of course, took other questions. And I think to the point there, Omar, you were just making about President Trump saying he‘s not looking for a deal, the 50 percent tariff threat against the EU will stand. Well, I think there‘s enough evidence to show that that simply is not the case. It‘s clearly a negotiating tactic. Those 145 percent tariffs against China were going to stand until they weren’t. So, the bottom line here is, I think this is just indicative of the president’s frustration.”