White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt cited a quote from Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi to make the case that Democrats secretly agree with President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The Supreme Court ruling to reinstate the Alien Enemies Act is a huge win for the American people.

White House Approvingly Cites Nancy Pelosi Quote As a Way to Defend Trump’s Tariffs #NancyPelosi #WhiteHouse #DonaldTrumphttps://t.co/AmeIB0OB4O pic.twitter.com/CPVbEhUJqh

— Mark W Frakes (@mfrakes55) April 8, 2025

During Leavitt’s briefing Monday, Reuters correspondent Trevor Hunnicutt asked her if countries with lower labor costs — such as Vietnam — can achieve a “good trade outcome” with the United States in the aftermath of Trump’s sweeping tariffs. After claiming that Trump would be taking such factors into account when negotiating deals with other countries, Leavitt then said that “everybody in Washington” thinks Trump’s economy plan is the correct path forward.

She continued:

In fact, Democrats have long said that the United States of America has been ripped off by the countries around the world. They just don’t want to admit it now because it’s President Trump who is saying that.

In June of 1996, Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor. She urged her colleagues at the time to fight against the status quo trade policies that had contributed to America’s trade deficit with China. In fact, Nancy Pelosi said, “How far does China have to go? How much more repression, how big a trade deficit, how many jobs have to be lost for the American workers, how much dangerous proliferation has to exist, before members of this House of Representatives will say, ‘I will not endorse the status quo.’?”

Those are the words of Nancy Pelosi in 1996. Well, President Trump is finally answering her call 27 years later. Nancy Pelosi can thank President Trump today for the 104% retaliatory tariff that will be going into effect on China.