Trump: Kids may get 2 dolls not 30, but China will suffer more in trade war

President Donald Trump on Wednesday acknowledged that his tariffs could lead to fewer and costlier products in the United States, saying American kids might “have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” but insisted that China would suffer more from the trade war.

The Republican president tried to reassure a nervous nation that his aggressive trade policies would not trigger a recession, even as a new Commerce Department report showed the U.S. economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.3% in the first quarter. Behind the contraction was a surge in imports as companies rushed to beat sweeping tariffs on autos, steel, aluminum, and goods from nearly every country.

“You know, somebody said, ‘Oh, the shelves are going to be open,’” Trump said. “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls. So maybe the two dolls will cost a couple bucks more than they would normally.”

At a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day, Trump told his aides that tariffs were causing “tremendous difficulty” for China’s factories, which he claimed are “not doing business,” adding that the U.S. doesn’t really need imports from the world’s leading manufacturer.

The stock market reacted negatively to the GDP report, prompting Trump to shift blame to his Democratic predecessor. “This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s,” he posted on his social media platform. “Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang.’ This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS.”

Still, Trump’s economic message contained conflicting claims. He took credit for increased corporate investments while blaming the market’s drop on Biden — who left office months earlier. He argued that tariffs were both a tool to negotiate trade deals and a key source of revenue to fund tax cuts.

In a Wednesday night town hall on NewsNation, Trump defended his early performance in office. “I just think that I’ll be able to convince people how good this is,” he said, dismissing doubts over his policies.

Trump marked his 100th day back in office by highlighting investments from companies like Nvidia, Apple, SoftBank, and Johnson & Johnson — attributing them to his economic leadership. However, at the same Cabinet meeting, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick cited a trip to Arizona to visit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s (TSMC) facilities. TSMC’s first plant was announced during Trump’s first term in 2020, its second in 2022 under Biden, and a third following $6.6 billion in CHIPS Act funding in 2024. Trump downplayed Biden’s role, claiming, “They’re building because of the tariffs.”

Democrats, meanwhile, seized on the GDP data to argue Trump’s policies are driving the economy into a recession. “We’ve only seen the beginning of the dangerous impacts from Trump’s random policies,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA), who emphasized that U.S. manufacturers still rely on Chinese components. “Chaos and dysfunction are not going to help build investment. A strong economy needs stability and certainty. We haven’t seen that.”

Economist Heather Boushey, a former Biden adviser, was blunt: “In just 100 days, President Trump has taken the U.S. economy from strong, stable growth to negative GDP. This astonishing turn of fortune is directly due to the incoherence of his economic policy and his mismanagement of federal policy more generally.”