5 moments you missed from Donald Trump’s Liberation Day speech

Donald Trump has unleashed his “Liberation Day” tariffs on the world, with Australia not spared. Here are five key takeaways.

Donald Trump has unleashed his “Liberation Day” tariffs on the world, with Australia not spared.

Here are five key takeaways from the US President’s speech:

1. ‘Trillions and trillions’

Mr Trump insisted the tariffs would deliver a cash bonanza to the US as companies made sure they operated from a base there.

“So far it looks like we’re going to have about $6 trillion of investment. You wouldn’t do that in years in this country,” he said.

“It will be much higher by the end of the year. Think of what $6 trillion (could do) – you wouldn’t even have a small percentage of that under the other system.

“We’re going to be an entirely different country and it will be fantastic for the workers, fantastic for everyone. They will never have been a transformation of a country like the transformation that’s already happening in the United States of America.”

■ Revealed: How tariffs will affect Australia

US President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order after delivering remarks on reciprocal tariffs. Picture: SAUL LOEB / AFP

2. Attack on Aussie beef

Donald Trump hinted at tariffs on Australian beef in his Liberation Day speech.

“Australia bans – and they’re wonderful people and wonderful everything – but they ban American beef,” he said.

“Yet, we imported $3 billion of Australian beef from them just last year alone.

“They won’t take any of our beef. They don’t want it because they don’t want it to affect their farmers.

“And you know what? I don’t blame them, but we’re doing the same thing right now, starting midnight tonight, I would say.”

Australian Prime Minsiter Anthony Albanese immediately fired back, insisting this was “not the act of a friend”.

3. ‘Scavengers raping and pillaging America’

The US President, while announcing “reciprocal tariffs” on countries throughout the world – insisted his country had been “looted, pillaged raped by countries near and far”.

“We’ll be on other countries to help rebuild our economy and to prevent cheating,” he said. “So, we’re going to have a minimum of cheating and we’ll be very severe on the people that are at the gate that watch the tariffs and watch the product coming in.”

4. Getting tough on Chii-naa

The President took aim at the deals with China, with an almost mocking tone of Chii-naa as he pronounced it.

“I have great respect for the president Xi of China, great respect for China, but they were taking tremendous advantage of us and I commend them for that. I say, hey, if you can get away with it, that’s OK,” he said.

“It’s why it’s such an honour to be finally able to do this. When you look at China, I took in hundreds of billions of dollars in my term, hundreds of billions, they never said 10 cents to any other president and yet they paid hundreds of billions.”

President Donald Trump. Picture: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

5. Lies, damned lie

Mr Trump insisted not even “fake news” could derail his tariff program.

“In the coming days, there will be complaints from the globalists and the outsources and the special interests, fake news will always complain,” he said.

“Never forget every prediction our opponents made about trade for the last 30 years have proven wrong.

“They were wrong with NAFTA, they were wrong about China, they were wrong about the trans-Pacific partnership, that would’ve been a disaster if I didn’t terminate it. If I didn’t terminate it, united autoworkers, you would have had no jobs in this country. You would have had no jobs. It was all going to other countries.”

Originally published as 5 moments you missed from Donald Trump’s Liberation Day speech