Fresh off of sounding the alarm that declining oil prices could be a sign of a coming economic downturn, former Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore told Fox News on Tuesday that the president’s global trade war could lead to a Nobel Peace prize if “he’s able to pull this off” and make the world economy “better.”
Fox News anchor John Roberts, meanwhile, wondered if there is a “Nobel Prize in trade” before noting that Donald Trump “might be up for that one.”
Following a global market sell-off in the days since Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs that imposed massive and so-called “reciprocal” import taxes across the world, stocks rebounded early on Tuesday after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration was engaging in tariff negotiations that could bring “good deals” with a number of countries.
At the same time, the bounce back on Tuesday morning could largely be due to investors looking to buy stocks at a bargain after trillions of dollars of wealth had been wiped out in recent days. Additionally, despite talks of negotiations, the president’s sweeping tariffs remain in place, and China doesn’t appear to be stepping back from its retaliatory actions.
Meanwhile, the reaction across the right and MAGA media to Trump’s escalating trade war has been mixed. Though many of Trump’s loyalists at Fox News and other right-wing outlets have found ways to defend and spin the president’s trade policies amid increasing economic chaos, others have started to break the ranks and question the tariffs as panic and turmoil set in.
During Tuesday’s broadcast of America’s Newsroom, however, both Moore and Roberts seemed heartened by the Dow Jones index ticking up after days of losses. Noting that California Gov. Gavin Newsom had been “trying to cut side deals” with other nations, Roberts said that “he might be wise to stick with Trump” following reports of countries looking to negotiate lower tariffs with the president.
“By the way, I think I told you on your show on Friday or yesterday that we were going to see a turnaround as soon as we start to see some of these countries make the phone call to Trump and make deals with him,” Morore gushed. “And Donald Trump is the great dealmaker. My gosh, he wrote the book on The Art of the Deal! I’m smiling. We are up 1200 on the Dow. This is a good day for investors. It is the old idea — buy stocks low and sell high. This is good stuff.”
Moore went on to say that while China doesn’t appear to be cooperating with the United States, this could be an opportunity to “get free trade deals with everybody except China and we isolate them.”
This prompted Roberts to point out that Trump has said that “the first countries that come and make a deal are going to do really well” while the “last country to come to make a deal won’t do very well,” adding that China looks like it will be that final country to come to the table.
“I just get amazed by Trump and what a great negotiator he is,” Moore reacted. “He is putting pressure on these countries — whether it's Spain, Italy, Canada, Mexico. You better make that call. You want to be first? A game of musical chairs. You don’t want to be the one left standing, and that’s why I think you are seeing these flurries of calls.”
Moore, who advised the president’s 2016 campaign and helped craft Trump’s tax cuts in the first administration, did express his difference of opinion with the president on trade. Still, he felt that Trump could fully reshape the global economy in a positive manner with his tariffs, regardless of what most economists and business leaders believe.
“I’m a free trade guy, not a big fan of tariffs. If Donald Trump can pull this off and get these countries to reduce their tariffs, it is good for everybody. The world economy will be better,” Moore said before quoting a recent column he wrote.
“My gosh, if this keeps up — as I said in the Wall Street Journal today — he might win a Nobel Peace Prize if he’s able to pull this off,” he exclaimed.
“Is there a Nobel Prize in trade? I don’t know, but maybe he might be up for that one,” Roberts responded.
Indeed, in an op-ed he co-authored with conservative economist Art Laffer, Moore noted that in 2018, Trump proposed a “tariff-free” international trading environment that would include “no barriers” and “no subsidies.” According to Moore and Laffer, Trump should make a worldwide address that the United States is “ready to drop its tariffs and industry subsidies to zero tomorrow on any nation that does the same.”
“Who better to pull off what could become the greatest Art of the Deal negotiation in world history? It would restore a free, fair and unfettered global trading system,” the column concluded. “Everyone, everywhere would get richer. The American economy would be great again. And Donald Trump would win the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.”
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