Gone in 40 days: how Trump's 'liberation day' tariff assault unraveled

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

81% : Everything is going to work out well," Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding a few minutes later: "THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!
64% : "April 2nd, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again," Trump declared at an event in the White House Rose Garden, before an audience of his top officials and supporters.
56% : The impact of those six chaotic weeks, from higher prices to slowing growth, is still unfolding, and the story continues Donald Trump hailed a new chapter in the US's economic history on 2 April, dubbed "liberation day" by his administration, as he announced plans for an extraordinary barrage of US tariffs on the world.
56% : On Friday, Trump claimed about 150 countries would soon receive letters "essentially telling" them of new US duty rates on their exports.
52% : Late on day 10, away from the noisy press gaggles and all-caps social media posts, US Customs and Border Protection posted a list of products that would be exempt from the Chinese tariffs - including smartphones, computers and semiconductor chips.
45% : Seven days into the new chapter, with his individualized tariffs imposed for all of 13 hours, Trump announced a 90-day pause - in effect reducing the universal duty on all US imports from almost all countries to 10% - and markets surged higher.
44% : But as the weeks drew on, after promising his trade strategy would prompt countries around the world to trip over themselves to strike deals with the US, Trump was finding it harder to explain why none had materialized.
44% : "I'm not saying Donald Trump has changed what he thinks in his heart.
40% : Trump maintained that high tariffs were the way forward, but fears of widespread shortages and dramatic price increases loomed large.
38% : Trump had been steered away from his aggressive instincts on trade during his first term, and persuaded to walk back several tariff threats in the opening months of his second.
34% : Trump summoned back reporters to unveil what he called a "maxed-out deal that we're going to make bigger" with the UK.
32% : Asked what had prompted it, Trump told reporters people had been "getting a little bit yippy" about his plan.
32% : With US tariffs on Chinese goods falling to 30%, Trump hailed a "total reset" in relations between Washington and Beijing.
25% : Trump was also watching the liberal MSNBC network, where the business commentator Stephanie Ruhle argued his strategy on tariffs was not working.
20% : " Trump punched back.
15% : Trump raced to pin the blame on his predecessor.

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