'Stupid, Incompetent': Trump Blasts Past Presidents, Says China Tariffs Should've Been Hiked 'Years Ago'

Last Updated:April 10, 2025, 07:54 IST

Donald Trump blamed previous US presidents for not acting against China, as he announced a steep tariff hike on China to 125 per cent. He said this should have been done before Obama.

US President Donald Trump speaks to the media (Photo: AFP)

As US President Donald Trump announced raising tariffs on China to 125 per cent because of a “lack of respect", in an interaction with the media, he said the step should have been taken years ago.

Trump also blamed previous Presidents and said they had been “stupid", “incompetent" and “did not have the courage" to do so.

“I blame the people sitting right at this desk, right behind this desk or another desk for being stupid and not having the courage. This should have been done years ago," Trump said in response to a media query on the trade war with China.

“This should have been done before (Barack) Obama, not only (Joe) Biden. This started with the World Trade Organisation which was owned by China, it was owned and paid by China. They considered them a nation that was undeveloped, they said they were a developing nation, we are a developing nation too if you think about it," the US President said.

“I blame the people sitting at this desk more than I blame China. If China can get away with taking hundreds and billions and trillions of dollars because of people here that were stupid, they were stupid people, may be corrupt, I don’t know how you can be that stupid, how you get to be the president and then you’re stupid."

“But they certainly weren’t courageous and they allowed this to happen, and with Japan and with many other countries… they took advantage of us," Trump said.

In another statement, on the trade war with China, and announcing a 90-day pause on new tariffs, Trump said, “Well, I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. No other president would have done what I did. Somebody had to do it. They had to stop because it was not sustainable."

“I’m honoured to have done it. Somebody had to do what we did. I did a 90-day pause for the people who didn’t retaliate because I told them if they retaliate, we’re going to double it. And that’s what I did with China because they did retaliate," Trump said.

“So we’ll see how it all works out. I think it’s going to work out amazing. I think that our country is going to be at the end of a year or shorter, but I think we’re going to have something that nobody would have dreamt possible. I am very happy that I have done it," he added.

On Wednesday, Trump raised the tariff rate for China to 125 per cent, effective immediately, from the previously announced 104 per cent tariff that had kicked off earlier on Wednesday.

China also announced an additional import levy on US goods, imposing an 84 per cent tariff from Thursday.

News world 'Stupid, Incompetent': Trump Blasts Past Presidents, Says China Tariffs Should've Been Hiked 'Years Ago'