© 2026 ABC News

Just a day before, during a bilateral with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, Trump suggested he was open to the idea of imposing a payroll tax cut.

\"So it is something I'm thinking about, payroll taxes, I've been thinking about payroll taxes for a long time,\" he said. \"Whether or not we do it now or not, it's not being done because of recession.\"

In saying so, the president contradicted his own aides who had pushed back on the notion that a payroll tax cut was under consideration.

\"It is not being considered at this time,\" White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said during an interview with Fox News earlier on Tuesday. \"He's looking at tax cuts again -- we think that spurs on the economic expansion.\"

While speaking with reporters Wednesday afternoon, Trump also defended the U.S. trade war with China calling himself, \"the chosen one.\"

\"Somebody had to do it. I am the chosen one,\" President Trump says, looking up at the sky while discussing the trade war.

\"Somebody had to do it, so I'm taking on China. I'm taking on China on trade\" https://t.co/M5slGg72vA pic.twitter.com/Z2bFAe1dgr

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 21, 2019

In response to a question from ABC News' Kyra Phillips about whether taking the Americans into recession is worth it, the president told reporters, \"I am the chosen one, somebody had to do it and I'm taking on China on trade. And you know what? We're winning.\"

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