First posted on Instagram
Former President Bill Clinton told a campaign audience in Mississippi that he warned Donald Trump about tariffs 24 years ago, recalling a conversation on the golf course. Clinton was campaigning for Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom, who is challenging Trump-endorsed Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith days before the November 3 midterm elections.
Clinton, 80, said he and Trump "used to have quite a friendly relationship" and that he has "known President Trump a long time."
Recalling their golf games, Clinton said Trump already believed in tariffs then. He quoted Trump as saying: "We're the biggest, strongest country in the world, why don't we just put a bunch of tariffs on these countries and stop paying taxes altogether?" Clinton presented the exchange as his own recollection, not as an independently confirmed transcript.
Clinton said he told Trump that foreign sellers do not simply absorb the cost of tariffs. "They just charge the people who buy the stuff, whatever it is. So we pay the tariffs," he said.
Clinton added: "He, just like now, didn't hear what he didn't want to hear."
Trump has called tariff his "favorite word" and has made tariffs central to his second term. Trump and his supporters defend tariffs as a tool to protect American industries, pressure trading partners and strengthen U.S. negotiating power.
Research by Peterson Institute economists cited in recent coverage found that U.S. consumers and businesses bore about 90% of tariff costs in 2025.