Trump Clashes With Reporter Over Tariffs, Citing Pandemic and ‘Fighting Lunatics’

President Donald Trump clashed with a reporter Thursday over questions about a newly signed tariff, telling him that he had spent his first term "fighting lunatics like you." The intense exchange follows a White House signing ceremony for a series of executive actions aimed at expanding reciprocal tariffs and strengthening U.S. trade policy.

While speaking with reporters at the White House after the signing, a reporter confronted Trump on why he is emphasizing tariffs more in his second term. 

"You’re weighing your decision to do that, your authority to do that based on a 1977 law. It's never been invoked before," said the reporter. "Why didn't you invoke this law in your first term? You could have taken in billions upon billions of dollars in your first term, but you...