To put this in perspectiveTrump’s tariff boasts blown up as trade deficit balloons 95% from Oct to Nov and 2025 Trade Deficit 4% higher than 2024
The U.S. trade deficit soared in November, nearly doubling the previous month as President Donald Trump’s widespread use and threat of tariffs have led to intense trade volatility.
The trade deficit was up nearly 95 percent in November from the prior month, or $27.6 billion, hitting $56.8 billion, according to the latest data released by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.
It was a sharp reversal from previous months, when the deficit had been shrinking and even hit its lowest level since 2009 in October.
Year-over-year, the trade deficit through November was four percent higher than the same period in 2024 despite the president’s attempts to use tariffs to reduce trade imbalances around the world.
Imports in November increased by five percent to $348.9 billion, while exports dipped 3.6 percent to 292.1 billion.
The drop in exports was led by a decline in pharmaceuticals, gold, consumer goods and crude oil being shipped out, while imports rose thanks to Americans buying pharmaceuticals and data center equipment.
After the monthly trade deficit fell to its lowest level in October in more than 15 years, economists cautioned that some of the decline was due to temporary shifts in trade for products such as gold and pharmaceuticals.
But Trump was quick to tout the increasing deficit on the world stage earlier this month at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“In one year, I slashed our monthly trade deficit by a staggering 77 percent,” the president bragged during his address last week.
Since taking office, the president has repeatedly argued that the U.S. trade deficit constitutes a national emergency, which he used to impose widespread tariffs last April. Since then, the president has repeatedly backed off on some of his tariffs while imposing others as he looks to negotiate deals.
The oligarchs from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust rejoice.Trump says he wants to 'drive housing prices up' instead of lowering costs for people who 'didn't work very hard'
In a seeming reversal from previous promises about focusing on affordability, Trump said during a Jan. 29 Cabinet meeting, "I don't wanna drive housing prices down, I wanna drive housing prices up"
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In a seeming reversal from his recent promises about increasing affordability, President Donald Trump said during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Jan. 29, that his goal is to keep housing prices up to avoid inadvertently benefiting Americans who "didn't work very hard."
- President Donald Trump said in a Jan. 29 Cabinet meeting that he wants to keep housing prices up
- Of current homeowners, Trump said, "We're not gonna destroy the value of their homes so that somebody who didn't work very hard can buy a home"
- The latest promise comes just weeks after a Truth Social post in which the president detailed a plan to "drive Mortgage Rates DOWN, monthly payments DOWN, and make the cost of owning a home more affordable"
"People that own their homes, we're gonna keep them wealthy. We're gonna keep those prices up," he said. "We're not gonna destroy the value of their homes so that somebody who didn't work very hard can buy a home."
Stepping back a bit, he added, "We're gonna make it easier to buy, we're gonna get interest rates down, but I wanna protect the people that, for the first time in their lives, feel good about themselves. They feel like, you know, that they're wealthy people."
Trump then circled back to his plan to increase housing costs: "There's so much talk about, 'Oh, we're gonna drive housing prices down.' I don't wanna drive housing prices down, I wanna drive housing prices up for people that own their homes, and they can be assured that's what's gonna happen."
The president's latest plan comes just weeks after he announced his intention to make housing more affordable, including backing an initiative to ban corporations from being able to purchase single-family homes.
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