Donald Trump dropped the hammer with the biggest wave of tariffs in modern U.S. history. The stock market dipped, the dollar staggered, and economists sounded alarms of a looming global recession.
And now? Vice President JD Vance is telling working-class Americans that it will be all worth it some day.
In a Fox & Friends interview on Thursday, Vance faced tough questions about how Trump’s sweeping tariff strategy would affect those living paycheck to paycheck. Fox host Lawrence Jones didn’t sugarcoat it.
There are a “lot of MAGA folks” cheering Trump on, “especially when he takes it to other countries,” Jones said. “But I also know people that come from our background—they’re living paycheck to paycheck. And they want to do the patriotic duty of taking it to these other countries. But it’s going to hit them a little bit, they feel.”
Jones pressed further. He asked what Vance could tell Americans who “just can’t afford an extra three dollars here and there.” Would the pain be temporary? A few months of struggle?
Vance, whose net worth now hovers around $10 million after the success of his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, explained a familiar origin story in response.
“I grew up in a family that often did live paycheck to paycheck, and we know a lot of Americans are worried,” he said. “So we are fighting very hard to bring prices down. We’re going to have the biggest deregulation in the history of this country.”
Precisely, he is asking the people to suck it up.
He didn’t stop there. “What I’d ask folks to appreciate here is that we are not going to fix things overnight,” Vance added. “Joe Biden left us; this is not an exaggeration, Lawrence—with the largest peacetime debt and deficit in the history of the United States of America, with sky-high interest rates. You don’t fix that stuff overnight.”
VP JD Vance on Fox & Friends full interview.pic.twitter.com/J8HvPNfabe
— Department of Government Efficiency News (@DOGE__news) April 3, 2025
That’s right! Global trade turmoil, rising inflation, and everyday Americans absorbing the fallout. But don’t worry, deregulation is coming.
Vance put zero effort to explain how triggering a global trade war solves a domestic deficit, but leaned into the Trump camp’s economic philosophy.
“We believe that if we pursue the right deregulation, we pursue those energy cost reducing policies, yes, people are going to see it in their pocketbook,” he claimed. “They’re also gonna benefit from the fact that foreign countries can’t take advantage of us anymore. That means their jobs are going to be more secure.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs include a blanket 10% tax on all imported goods. That’s in effect even from places with zero economic activity. Yes, even uninhabited islands weren’t spared. Around 60 countries were slapped with higher rates, and many are now prepping their retaliation.
The tariffs are technically charged to the importers but economists warn that it’s the everyday American consumer who will actually feel the pinch; at the grocery store, the gas pump, and beyond.
We’re ALL ready to heap praise on the #debateNight moderator that asks Donald J. Trump the simple question: “WHAT IS A TARRIF?”
Because #TrumpVance2024 never answers the question, a lie is not an answer. pic.twitter.com/Ig7D6h2agY
— Chris Borkowski (@cborkowski) September 10, 2024
And the cherry on top? Inflation projections for 2025 are already climbing.
Still, Vance doubled down on the Trump team’s long-term vision. “It was necessary,” he said. “So yeah, we’re going to cut your taxes. You’re going to have more money in your pocket, and that’s of course going to help you deal with the cost of inflation.”
This isn’t your typical economic policy. Rather, it’s a complete reset, Vance said. One that demands patience, endurance, and a whole lot of faith from struggling Americans.
