Conservative CNN pundit Scott Jennings got into a heated debate with Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell over President Trump’s tariff agreements with Mexico and Canada.
Jennings praised the last-minute deals as “a win for Donald Trump,” but Rampell contended that the president “didn’t actually get anything” after agreeing to pause for 30 days his threatened 25% levy against the countries.
The North American neighbors agreed to send troops to the border to help crack down on illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling.
“Dude, just accept the fact that he [Trump] got rolled!” the columnist for the left-leaning Beltway broadsheet insisted, arguing that Mexico and Canada have already been sending troops to the US border.
Jennings snapped back: “Ask every family with a fentanyl death how much they’ve been helping.”
He went on to say Trump’s agreements with Mexico and Canada will force them “to do what we want them to do — which is to put people and technology and resources at the border to stop the flow of people and drugs, illegal immigration, stem the tide.”
Jennings also argued that Trump’s tariff agreements will hold their feet to the fire when it comes to these commitments.
“They’ve got 30 days to really implement and they can’t pussyfoot around anymore,” Jennings said. “So the point of this exercise to me had less to do with trade and more to do with saying to our neighbors, ‘You need to be better neighbors.’”
He added that the US is more important to their economies, so Canada and Mexico have a duty to “help us with our serious problem, which is illegal immigration and people dying from fentanyl.”
“They both said yes today and that is a win for Donald Trump,” Jennings said, as Rampell shook her head “no.”
The Washington Post opinion columnist has butted heads with Jennings in the past — over Elon Musk’s post-inauguration gesture, which critics likened to a Nazi salute, and whether Trump is going to exact revenge on political opponents while in office.
“I mean, I don’t know what Trump wanted in this situation,” Rampell said, discussing the proposed tariffs. “Again, he didn’t actually get anything. But if he were to put these tariffs in place, they would be very painful –”
“Total lie,” Jennings interrupted.
“– for American consumers,” Rampell said. “Okay, Scott, I mean, this is public information!”
Jennings jumped in again, calling her arguments a “total lie” and insisting that Trump “got what he wanted.”
“To do exactly what they already have been doing,” Rampell insisted.
“I understand you’re the minister of propaganda tonight, but you don’t have to be. You could just say, ‘Hey, all’s well that ends well here.’ Come on,” Jennings shot back.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
