Mayor Pete Buttigieg criticized President Donald Trump’s use of tariffs in his trade fight with China, but he admitted he would also use tariffs as leverage to negotiate a deal.
Pete Buttigieg was asked on Thursday night by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos if he would repeal Trump’s tariffs.
“I would have a strategy that would include them as leverage, he conceded, but added, “It’s not about the tariffs.”
Buttigieg criticized Trump’s use of tariffs, asserting that there was “a lack of a bigger strategy” in his ongoing fight with China.
He recalled when Trump mockingly said he would like to see a man like Buttigieg make a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“I’d like to see him make a deal with Xi Jinping,” Buttigieg quipped. “Wasn’t that supposed to happen in April?”
Buttigieg also criticized Trump for failing to lead the world on issues like climate change.
“The world needs America, but it just can’t be any America,” he said.