‘Fake News’: White House Shuts Down Rumours of Trump’s 90-Day Tariff Pause

New Delhi: In a sharp rebuttal to swirling media reports, the White House on Monday dismissed claims that US President Donald Trump is considering a 90-day pause on tariffs for all countries except China. Terming the reports as “fake news,” the administration clarified that no such decision has been finalised.

The clarification comes amid mounting global speculation about a possible softening of Trump’s aggressive trade stance, especially as financial markets reel under the pressure of heightened tariffs and looming recession fears.   

What Media Reports Claimed?

Media Reports on Monday suggested that President Donald Trump is considering a 90-day pause in tariffs for all countries except China.

US Stocks Making Wild Swings

Meanwhile, U.S. stocks are sharply swinging down, up, then down again on Wall Street as markets try to assess the potential damage from President Donald Trump ’s global trade war. European and Asian shares saw dramatic losses, the leading U.S. index is flirting with bear market territory, and oil prices are sagging.

Trump says he won’t back down on his sweeping new tariffs.

Countries are scrambling to figure out how to respond to the tariffs, with China and others retaliating quickly.

Trump’s tariff blitz fulfilled a key campaign promise as he acted without Congress to redraw the rules of the international trading system. It was a move decades in the making for Trump, who has long denounced foreign trade deals as unfair to the U.S.

Trump Not Backing Down on Tariffs

President Donald Trump stood firm on his tariff strategy despite ongoing global market turmoil. Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump acknowledged the financial fallout but remained unfazed, saying, “Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”

He reiterated that the tariffs are essential to correcting global trade imbalances and reviving U.S. manufacturing, while sharply criticizing China as “the biggest abuser of them all” for retaliating with its own tariffs.

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to become the first foreign leader to meet with Trump following the tariff rollout. The two are expected to discuss a range of critical issues during their Monday meeting in Washington — from the sweeping tariffs and the Gaza war to tensions with Iran, evolving Israel-Turkey relations, and actions by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu last year.