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Trump tariffs live updates: US won't drop China tariffs without something 'substantial'
"Otherwise, I'm not going to drop ‘em. It'll all work out," Trump said
President Donald Trump is claiming, in a Time magazine interview out Friday, that he's made "200 deals" so far in tariff talks but wouldn't say why he hadn't announced any.
He also said that he would be "finished" with negations in the next 3-4 weeks.
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Trump tells ABC News he's spoken to President Xi 'numerous times' but won't say when
ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott asked President Donald Trump as he was departing the White House when he spoke to President Xi Jinping, considering China's repeated denials of his claims talks are underway.
"You said you have spoken to President XI. When did that happen? Because China says it hasn't happened?" Scott asked Trump.
"I’ve spoke to him numerous times," Trump said. "So we're leaving and going to Rome to be attending the funeral of Pope Francis. Some of you are going to go, anybody going? And going to be very interesting. We're going to meet with a lot of the foreign leaders. They want to meet. Trade deals are going very well. I think Russia and Ukraine, I think they're coming along, we hope, very fragile."
The president was then pressed twice more on when he spoke to Xi.
"I'll let you know at the appropriate time. Let's see if we can make a deal," he told one reporter.
Trump claims ‘200’ tariff deals in Time interview out Friday
Asked by Time magazine about trade adviser Peter Navarro’s prediction of "90 deals in 90 days," President Trump claimed he has already made 200 deals.
Trump: I’ve made 200 deals.
You’ve made 200 deals?
Trump: 100%.
I’m just curious, why don’t you announce these deals that you’ve solidified?
Trump: I would say, over the next three to four weeks, and we're finished, by the way.
You’re finished?
Trump: We’ll be finished.
Trump claims world leaders want to meet about trade in Rome
Trump will be heading to Rome for Pope Francis' funeral and said he'd like to meet with other world leaders about trade.
"They all want to meet and they want to meet about trade, and we are making some great inroads and great deals," he claimed.
Half the public opposes tariffs, poll finds
A new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll published on Thursday found about half of voters opposing tariffs on all goods entering the United States, although about 1 in 5 U.S. adults neither favor nor oppose them.
Asked if they favor or oppose the policy of placing tariffs on "all goods" coming into the U.S., adults were actually split, with 52% of respondents opposing the move, 27% in favor and 21% neither favoring nor opposing the policy.
Plus, 76% of respondents said the tariff policies will increase the price of consumer goods, while 11% said they will decrease prices and 12% said they’ll have no effect on prices.
On Trump's handling of the economy overall, 61% of respondents disapproved, while 37% approved.
-ABC News' Oren Oppenehim