ELOQUENT

Trump Hits Back Against Free-Market Criticism

“That’s the dumb market. That’s the dumb market, OK?”

President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday defended his stance on keeping jobs in the U.S. and doubled down on his proposal to punish companies that move overseas. When asked what was wrong with a free market on Fox News Sunday, Trump said, “That’s not free-market when they go out and they move and they sell back into our country.” “That’s the dumb market. That’s the dumb market, OK?” he said. Lamenting the loss of what he claimed was 70,000 factories in the U.S. in recent years, Trump said “we’re being stripped of our workers” and “stripped of our jobs” as more companies move operations overseas. To keep companies in the U.S., he said, he’d offer to reduce taxes “very substantially.” The companies that do leave, however, will face a 35 percent tax, he warned. “Nobody’s going to move. They’re not going to move. They’re not going to leave. They’re going to stay here,” he said.