Trump lies a lot, but he really seems to believe buying things = losing. My “trade deficit” with the supermarket is thousands a year. That’s fine, because I want food. America could eliminate the trade deficit today by buying less made abroad. We choose not to. And that’s fine.https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1022074252999225344 …
As best I can tell, he means what he’s saying on this. Trade deficit = getting ripped off; tariffs = leverage for negotiation.