Charlie Kirk slams ‘economic ruling class’ for being wrong about Trump’s trade policies in epic CNBC ‘Squawk Box’ debut

Kirk focused on Trump’s tariff strategy, which faced widespread skepticism from economists who predicted severe negative effects on the US economy. He argued that the tariffs have been a major success and have not produced the consequences the public was warned about.

Kirk noted how Trump has used tariffs not just for national security or as a revenue source, but as a “negotiation tactic” to bring foreign governments to the table. He cited how, despite months of tariffs, the predicted inflation has not materialized and expressed confidence that if it does, Trump will act to correct it because he “wants what’s best for America” and his economic policies are not “ideological.”

“There was a major, like catastrophic prediction, right? The ‘panicans,’ ‘the whole world’s going to fall apart.’ And we just haven’t seen that,” Kirk said. “And I think there does need to be a little contrition by the economic ruling class.”

“Like, Hey, back when we were saying this was going to be the worst thing for the global markets ever, it turns out what it has done is it recentered America as the center point of the world economy, that people wanted to invest in this country,” Kirk added.

Trump has secured significant trade deals recently, including with Japan, the Philippines, and the European Union. On Monday, the president signed an executive order delaying the implementation of tariffs on Chinese goods for another 90 days as negotiations continue with China.

Kirk went on to say that the American people, particularly company owners, need to rework how they analyze President Trump because “they're looking too much [at] the flow on X, and they're not looking at the macroeconomic geopolitical victory that President Trump is driving every single day."