DONALD TRUMP headlined an Economic Club of Chicago forum Tuesday talking about the economy, though the conversation with Bloomberg’s editor-in-chief, John Micklethwait, often veered as it does when the former president is on the stage. He loves tariffs: “The world’s most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariffs,” Trump told the mostly conservative crowd of nearly 600 at the Fairmont Hotel. Fact-check: Trump claimed Deere was backing away from its plans to build plants in Mexico. But that’s not true, reports Crain’s John Pletz. The biggest applause line was Trump addressing immigration, saying he supports only “legal” immigration. Trump also made an outrageously false claim that 13,099 “horrible criminals” and “murderers” are on the loose. In fact, some 13,000 immigrants, including those here legally, have been jailed for decades, which is what the number refers to, according to The Washington Post. And on whether he’d accept the results of the election, Trump said, “We should be allowed to disagree.” The audience cheered. On world issues, Trump dodged a question about whether he’s communicated with Vladimir Putin since leaving the White House. “I don't comment on that," he said. "But I will tell you that if I did, it's a smart thing,” On the election, Trump got in a few digs at Kamala Harris, calling her “incompetent.” Though Trump avoided making comments about Harris’ race, as he did the last time he was in Chicago to speak at the National Association of Black Journalists. Bracing to be berated: And many attendees were expecting Trump to disparage Chicago the way he did Detroit last week, calling it “a mess” and “a developing nation.” Instead, Trump told the Chicago crowd, “I think you people are even wealthier, ok?” SPOTTED: Kent Gray, an Illinois attorney who served as Trump’s Illinois state director in 2016 and has been a bundler for the 2020 and 2024 campaigns, left the event all smiles — and not just because he got his gold Trump shoes signed by the former president. “President Trump was on his A-game today,” said Gray, calling the moderator “smug” and saying Trump “deftly” explained that tariffs used to “enforce free and fair trade” can help Americans. THE DEMOCRATIC PUSHBACK Gov. JB Pritzker called Trump “a rambling, incoherent, insulting old man determined to drive our economy into the deepest ditch he can find. Donald Trump’s proposed economic policies would increase costs, deepen the deficit, and kill jobs yet.” Sen. Dick Durbin accused Trump of "adding nearly $8 trillion to the national debt during his presidency. He’s only the second president in history to have fewer jobs at the end of his term than when he was sworn in.” And Mayor Brandon Johnson called Trump’s “‘economic plan' nothing more than a massive tax break for billionaires and big corporations while working people get stuck with higher prices for everyday goods.” PRESS CORP TAKEAWAYS Trump defends call for tariffs on imports, does not commit to peaceful concession if he loses, by the Tribune’s Rick Pearson and Rebecca Johnson Trump insists tariff is ‘world’s most beautiful word’ — and Jan. 6 was ‘love and peace,’ by the Sun-Times’ Tina Sfondeles Trump refuses to commit to peaceful transfer of power, by the Block Club’s Melody Mercado
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