What Trump's former secretary of state says about his tariff plans
But Pompeo, who had endorsed then-Florida Sen. Marco Rubio early in that election cycle, later shifted his support to Trump and went on to become a trusted member of the 45th president's inner circle, serving first as CIA director and later as secretary of state during Trump's first term.
On Wednesday, Pompeo was in Utah to speak at the Crossroads of the World International Trade Summit, a two-day, invitation-only event sponsored by Zions Bank and World Trade Center Utah that invited 'world leaders and top business minds to discuss the uncertainties, trends, and opportunities surrounding international business.'
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, answers a question posed by former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, left, at Crossroads of the World International Trade Summit at Zions Bancorporation's Technology Center in Midvale on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Issues surrounding Trump's chaotic international trade policy shifts figured largely in the discussions and Pompeo, who was interviewed on stage by former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, underscored his feelings about the critical role of the U.S. in the global economy.
What Pompeo said about Trump tariff policy
'We are truly exceptional,' Pompeo told the audience of about 500 gathered at the Zions Bancorporation Technology Center in Midvale. 'The whole world depends on the success of the United States of America. Without America, without us leading with a good economy, without the innovation of America, the world is lost.'
Pompeo argued that no other country is positioned to step into the leadership role that America has occupied since World War II and noted the interdependency of the world's individual economies have been a boon for the U.S. business community and the country as a whole.
People attend Crossroads of the World International Trade Summit at Zions Bancorporation's Technology Center in Midvale on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
'The global economy is deeply interconnected,' Pompeo said. 'That's important and creates enormous value for the United States of America ... we're not going to make everything here.'
Pompeo also offered some insight as a past member of the president's cabinet, noting he believes Trump will continue to wield tariff policy as a tool to address perceived issues with other countries.
'As for President Trump and his tariff policy … you should know he believes it with all his heart, rightly or wrongly," Pompeo said. 'He calls himself 'Tariff Man'. Does that leave any doubt in your mind? He believes that bilateral trade deficits in goods are bad and no one is going to convince him otherwise.'
Will Trump tariff approach be successful?
But while Pompeo said Trump may have overreached in his initial rounds of international trade decrees, he believes the president will eventually get to a more balanced policy position.
'(President Trump) recognizes that it's absolutely imperative that when we rebalance this we don't crush things,' Pompeo said. 'He may have gotten it wrong in the front end or at least he was coming out of the gate with the most aggressive posture. I think you'll see the secretary of treasury begin to try to put these rules in place that really do deliver the right outcome.'
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, answers a question posed by former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, left, at Crossroads of the World International Trade Summit at Zions Bancorporation's Technology Center in Midvale on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
In the meantime, Pompeo acknowledged that the current business environment has been roiled by Trump's on-again, off-again tariff declarations.
'President Trump hasn't been clear about his overall strategic objective here,' Pompeo said. 'He's talked about using tariffs for fentanyl, keeping it out of the country, he's talked about balancing trade, he's talked about bilateral trade deficits. And that is one of the things that is hurting the business community — uncertainty.'
That uncertainty was underscored by a group of Utah business leaders who participated in a panel discussion following Pompeo's interview with Herbert.
Here's what Utah businesses have to say
Kimberley Honeysett, chief legal officer for Varex Imaging, an independent supplier of X-ray tubes and image processing solutions for medical and security applications, said her company's strategy of locating manufacturing facilities proximate to customers was being upended by the new tariff policies.
'One of the risks, certainly, for a lot of companies that have both import and export functions is the opposite of what they're trying to accomplish, pushing U.S. manufacturing outside the U.S.,' Honeysett said. 'The risk is it backfires.'
Honeysett explained how trade levies, both those issued by the U.S. and reciprocal actions by other countries, were impacting Varex on both sides of the company's import/export equation.
'We import goods, we're the importer of record and we get the tariffs and our prices are increasing,' Honeysett said. 'We also export so, on the other side, we get the tariff. From our perspective (the U.S. trade policies) are more harmful than beneficial.'
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, answers a question posed by former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, left, at Crossroads of the World International Trade Summit at Zions Bancorporation's Technology Center in Midvale on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
John Hortin, chief financial officer for Wavetronix, a Utah-based manufacturer of radar traffic detection devices, said the company's business with China has 'dried up' and he and the Wavetronix team are currently navigating trade tariff uncertainty by 'biding our time and waiting to see where it will land.'
Hortin said he believes U.S. trade policy would lead to more effective outcomes if implementation was strategic and targeted, rather than broad-based.
'It's important to be specific rather than broad,' Hortin said. 'The rhetoric we're hearing now is we've been taken advantage of across the board. And I'm not sure that's true. Blanket tariffs, I really think, generate the trade war more than solve problems.'
Trump announced a raft of country-specific reciprocal tariffs last month along with a blanket 10% levy on foreign imports. On April 9, the president declared a 90-day pause on the reciprocal trade fees but kept the 10% assessment in place. That same day, Trump also announced an increase on imports from China that raised the effective levy on most imports from the country to 145%.
Here's where new U.S. tariffs stand for the moment:
China tariffs are at 145%, following a series of increases.
Tariffs of 25% are in place on steel and aluminum imports, imported automobiles and goods from Canada and Mexico not covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Imports from all other countries are subject to a 10% trade levy.
The Crossroad of the World Summit continues on Thursday with scheduled speakers including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, former secretaries of state Antony Blinken and Condoleezza Rice, former prime ministers Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand and Theresa May of the United Kingdom, and Australia Ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd, who is the former prime minister of Australia.
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NBC News
6 minutes ago
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Office of Special Counsel launches investigation into ex-Trump prosecutor Jack Smith
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal agency, is investigating former special counsel Jack Smith for alleged political violations of the Hatch Act, an accusation levied by President Donald Trump and other prominent Republicans but one, as publicly presented, void of specific evidence of wrongdoing. Notably, the OSC, which is different than an office of a special counsel appointed by the Department of Justice, lacks the authority to bring criminal charges and prosecute individuals who violate the Hatch Act. The OSC may seek disciplinary action for a federal government employee, such as removal from the civil workforce, or refer its findings of Hatch Act violations to the DOJ for investigation. On Wednesday, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., requested that the OSC investigate Smith for 'unprecedented interference in the 2024 election.' The OSC confirmed to NBC News on Saturday that it is investigating the alleged violations, and a source familiar says the OSC affirmed to Cotton that it is proceeding with its inquiry after his request. Smith was tapped as special counsel by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 to oversee the federal investigations into Trump, who announced his candidacy for the presidency three days before Smith's appointment. Smith would go on to bring two criminal indictments against then-candidate Trump in 2023 but resigned just over one week before Trump's inauguration in January 2024 — without ever having brought the two cases to trial. 'Jack Smith's legal actions were nothing more than a tool for the Biden and Harris campaigns,' Cotton wrote on X, this week. 'This isn't just unethical, it is very likely illegal campaign activity from a public office.' Cotton, in part, alleges that Smith pushed for a 'rushed trial' for Trump. The Republican lawmaker has not publicly presented evidence that details how Smith's actions were illegal in nature. Hatch Act violations are not typically referred to the Department of Justice. In 2019, the OSC recommended that then-President Trump remove White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway from the federal workforce for Hatch Act violations — but the matter was not sent to the DOJ. The OSC investigation was first reported by the NY Post.
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
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Wall Street firm drops bold S&P 500 call after White House trade moves
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Politico
15 minutes ago
- Politico
The new master of the Senate
Presented by With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco Good morning. I'm Charlie Mahtesian. Get in touch. DRIVING THE DAY MASTER OF THE SENATE: The most eventful week to date in the midterm battle for the Senate just came to a close. The field in one of the marquee races of 2026 finally took shape in North Carolina, the lead architect of Project 2025 launched a primary challenge against South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, Rep. Mike Collins joined the Georgia GOP Senate primary, appointed Florida Sen. Ashley Moody continued on her special election glide path when her most serious Democratic challenger dropped out, and we got a little more insight into Nebraska. But don't lose sight of the larger narrative. Whatever else is happening in these races from week to week, the single most important factor determining the outcome of the 2026 Senate election cycle is President Donald Trump. Nothing else is even close. His approval ratings are part of this equation. 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Added Casar: 'I think a five-year-old could draw a more coherent map than what they sent you from Mar-a-Lago.' And beyond the Lone Star State: 'A group of Democratic governors is urging its colleagues to get tough in countering Republican-backed efforts to gerrymander Texas' congressional districts,' POLITICO's Elena Schneider reports. Said Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly at a Democratic Governors Association meeting yesterday: 'I'm not a big believer in unilateral disarmament.' 4. VIEWERS LIKE YOU: 'The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced on Friday that it will wind down its operations due to the successful Republican effort to defund local PBS and NPR stations across the country,' CNN's Liam Reilly and Brian Stelter report. 'The announcement came just over a week after President Donald Trump enacted a rescissions bill clawing back congressionally approved federal funds for public media and foreign aid. Of the $9 billion in canceled funds, $1.1 billion was earmarked for the corporation for the next two years.' The impact: The CPB 'has warned that some stations, particularly in rural areas, will have to shut down without federal support,' Reilly and Stelter write. 'Most larger stations have numerous other funding sources, including viewer and listener donations, to soften the blow dealt by Congress.' What endures: 'PBS, NPR and some of the most popular programs associated with public broadcasting, such as 'Sesame Street' and 'All Things Considered,' will survive without the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,' writes NYT's Benjamin Mullin. 'NPR and PBS get a relatively small portion of their annual budget from the corporation, and children's TV programs like 'Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood' are produced independently of those organizations. 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Another person familiar estimated the amount to be more than $300 million.' 6. ON THE LINE: 'Appeals Court Allows Trump Order That Ends Union Protections for Federal Workers,' by NYT's Chris Cameron: 'A federal appeals court on Friday allowed President Trump to move forward with an order instructing a broad swath of government agencies to end collective bargaining with federal unions. … Trump had framed his order stripping workers of labor protections as critical to protect national security. But the plaintiffs — a group of affected unions representing over a million federal workers — argued in a lawsuit that the order was a form of retaliation against those unions that have participated in a barrage of lawsuits opposing Mr. Trump's policies. … But a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a famously liberal jurisdiction, ruled in Mr. Trump's favor, writing that 'the government has shown that the president would have taken the same action even in the absence' of the union lawsuits.' 7. GAZA LATEST: 'U.S. aid money to Gaza trickles in, belying Trump's claims, as officials visit,' by WaPo's Karen DeYoung: 'Despite President Donald Trump's repeated assertion this week that the United States has contributed $60 million for food to Gaza, U.S. pledges have been half of that amount, only a fraction of which has been actually disbursed. 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They aren't reassured,' by POLITICO's Daniel Desrochers and Victoria Guida: 'A half-dozen leaders from financial firms, corporations and trade groups said in interviews that the series of tariff rates Trump unveiled Thursday night were steeper than they had expected, and they worry that the dizzying kaleidoscope of policies he's applying to different countries will complicate global commerce. The economy is already showing cracks, with the job market slowing and stocks tumbling Friday. … Many business leaders fear that this week's worrying economic numbers are only the beginning of a more sustained downturn.' CLICKER — 'The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics,' edited by Matt Wuerker —16 funnies GREAT WEEKEND READS: — 'Inside the Crisis at the Anti-Defamation League,' by Noah Shachtman for NY Mag: 'The group used to fight for justice for all. Its war against anti-Zionism has changed everything.' — 'Ms. Rachel grew up on Mister Rogers. Now she's carrying on his legacy,' by Caitlin Gibson for WaPo: 'The YouTube star wants her audiences — adults and children alike — to see the humanity of all people.' — 'How NASA Engineered Its Own Decline,' by Franklin Foer for the Atlantic: 'The agency once projected America's loftiest ideals. Then it ceded its ambitions to Elon Musk.' — 'Meet the Fraudster Who Wants to Make California Its Own Country,' by Will McCarthy for POLITICO Magazine: 'The man behind the Calexit movement claims to be a baller. But he's broke.' — 'Tom Homan once spared Phoenix migrants. Now he's Trump's Darth Vader,' by Stephen Lemons for the Phoenix New Times: 'Pre-Trump, colleagues of border czar Tom Homan described him as reasonable. Now, they see a cruel man they don't recognize.' — 'Ada and Her Family Fled El Salvador. She Died Alone in the New Mexico Desert,' by Lillian Perlmutter for Rolling Stone: 'Over the past three years, the skeletons of hundreds of female migrants have been discovered in the Sunland Park Triangle, near a New Mexico suburb.' — 'DOGE-Pilled,' by Susan Berfield, Margi Murphy and Jason Leopold by Bloomberg: 'Luke Farritor could have been an artist, or a builder, or someone dedicated to seeing a great historical mystery through. Instead, he wound up at the Department of Government Efficiency, slashing, dismantling, undoing.' — 'The First Soda in Space: When NASA Got Caught Up in the Cola Wars,' by Joseph Dragovich for NYT: 'In the summer of 1985, NASA, the Reagan White House and seven talented astronauts were wrangled into an orbital battle over soft-drink supremacy.' — ''No Tax on Tips' Is an Industry Plant,' by Eyal Press for the New Yorker: 'Trump's 'populist' policy is backed by the National Restaurant Association — probably because it won't stop establishments from paying servers below the minimum wage.' — 'The U.S. military is investing in this Pacific island. So is China,' by Michael Miller, Lyric Li and An Rong Xu for WaPo: 'New U.S. radar sites are designed to keep China in check. But Chinese developments, some with questionable connections, could create vulnerabilities.' — ''Combat Cocktail': How America Overmedicates Veterans,' by Shalini Ramachandran and Betsy McKay for WSJ: 'To treat PTSD, the Department of Veterans Affairs put hundreds of thousands of patients on multiple streams of powerful drugs that put them at risk of suicide.' TALK OF THE TOWN MEDIA MOVE — Dave Levinthal is now a contributing editor at NOTUS. He is an investigative reporter and Raw Story and Business Insider alum. WEDDING — Sarah Williamson, a correspondent and anchor for Newsmax and Tal Erel, a business transformation consultant at EY, recently married at City Vineyard on Pier 26 in Tribeca. The couple met when Sarah was living in Israel and interviewed Tal before the 2020 Olympics, when he was on the Israeli baseball team that had qualified. Pics by Eric Green ... Another pic SPOTTED: Tom and Deneen Borelli, Christina Thompson, Monica and Daniel Baldwin, and Rita Cosby and Tomaczek Bednarek. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: VP JD Vance … Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) … Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) … D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser … BAL's Betsy Lawrence … Matthew Rosenberg … Patrick Ruffini of Echelon Insights … Gigi Sohn … Fox News' Rich Edson … Kevin Walling … NewsNation's Kellie Meyer … Peter Mihalick … CBS' Caitlin Huey-Burns … Emily Gershon … Sarah Bittleman … Camille Gallo … Jeff Ballou … Michael Manganiello … Jack H. Jacobs (8-0) … Brynn Barnett … former Reps. Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.) (7-0) and Dan Boren (D-Okla.) … Laura Nasim … former Treasury Secretary John Snow … Brian Montgomery … The New Yorker's Lawrence Wright … Dennis Prager … Nick Ballas … Whit Blount of Rep. 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Politics Panel: Chris Christie and Donna Brazile. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@ or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn't happen without our editor Zack Stanton, deputy editor Garrett Ross and Playbook Podcast producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
