Karoline Leavitt turns the tables on Nancy Pelosi, says Trump is responding to her call with China tariff

WASHINGTON, DC: While Wall Street was free-falling and the Donald Trump administration scrambled to do damage control over its "reciprocal tariffs," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt came out swinging—and she brought receipts.

During her Tuesday, April 8, briefing, the 27-year-old pulled an unexpected move as she turned the heat on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, dragging up her past comments on China trade policy to defend Donald Trump's latest tariff bombshells.

Karoline Leavitt pulls receipts on Nancy Pelosi

"Democrats have long said that the United States of America has been ripped off by the countries around the world. They just don't want to admit it now, because it's President Trump who is saying that," Karoline Leavitt declared to a stunned press room.

She threw it back to June 1996 when Pelosi had hit the House floor hard against US-China trade relations, the Daily Mail reported.

"In June of 1996, Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor. She urged her colleagues at the time to fight against the status quo trade policies that have contributed to America's trade deficit with China," Leavitt said.

"In fact, Nancy Pelosi said: 'How far does China have to go? How much more oppression. How big a trade deficit? How many jobs have to be lost for the American workers? How much dangerous proliferation has to exist before members of this House of Representatives? Well, I say, 'I will not endorse the status quo,'" Leavitt quoted Pelosi as saying. 

"Those are the words of Nancy Pelosi in 1996. Well, President Trump is finally answering her call. Twenty-seven years later. Nancy Pelosi can thank President Trump today for the 104% retaliatory tariff that will be going into effect on China," the White House press secretary added.

During the press briefing, she also quoted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer lamenting about the "crippling trade deficit" in 2007. 

Karoline Leavitt brushes off Elon Musk-Peter Navarro feud

Before she left the podium, Karoline Leavitt weighed in on a brewing social media war between Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s trade advisor, Peter Navarro, over the president's tariff plan, which has triggered a market meltdown. 

She brushed off the feud, saying, "Boys will be boys."

During the press briefing, Leavitt confirmed that the administration's aggressive extra 50% tariff on China would take effect right after midnight.

"It was a mistake for China to retaliate," she said firmly. "The president, when America is punched, he punches back harder. That’s why there will be 104% tariffs going into effect on China tonight at midnight, but the president believes that Xi and China want to make a deal. They just don’t know how to get that started."

Still trying to throw a life vest to Wall Street, Leavitt promised that "if China reaches out to make a deal, he will be incredibly gracious." She said that Trump "believes that China wants to make a deal."

Nancy Pelosi warns against Donald Trump's 'senseless' tariffs

Nancy Pelosi lashed out in an April 4 statement, taking direct aim at Donald Trump's tariffs that had sent the markets into a nosedive.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the 85-year-old wrote, "The Trump Administration's flagrant ineptitude is tanking our economy in a self-inflicted disaster that leaves hardworking American families bearing the brunt of the pain." 

"Make no mistake: President Trump's senseless tariffs will drive prices higher, drain retirement savings and push us to the brink of recession," she warned. 

Pelosi even quoted Reagan’s warnings against protectionism and referenced the disastrous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. 

"In 1988, President Ronald Reagan said, 'We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends – weakening our economy, our national security, and the entire free world – all while cynically waving the American flag,'" she noted. 

"President Reagan’s words were true then and they’re true today. Hopefully Trump and my Republican colleagues in Congress will heed his wisdom," Pelosi concluded. 

Ironically, Pelosi herself — one of the wealthiest members of Congress — hasn’t escaped the financial carnage. Her own investments reportedly took a major hit as the markets dove off a cliff.

And it’s not just her. According to reports, members of Trump’s own Cabinet saw their personal stock portfolios shrivel. 

Tuesday’s numbers were brutal. The S&P 500 dropped 1.6%, while the Dow slid 0.84%. Trillions have evaporated from the value of Wall Street investments since the tariff showdown began last week, per the Daily Mail.

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