‘Bankrupted 6 companies’: Donald Trump says empty ports ‘good thing’ because America ‘loses less money’ that way

President Trump was recently asked about the worrying trend of ports across America being empty, and his response was that it’s a good thing because it means America is losing less money.

In a new reality where the port in Seattle is empty and dock workers are struggling to find work, President Trump is still playing Jenga with the economy. Losing pieces, apparently, is winning now. All the truck drivers, the empty shelves, small businesses closing — that’s, apparently, “losing less money,” according to President Trump.

Imagine you’re driving down the highway and your car breaks down. Then a tow truck comes to pick you up. Would your first thought be: Great, I got to save on gas? If this is the so-called business guru who made an art out of negotiations and deal-making, then no wonder all those deals probably ran into the ground. That’s exactly what X user Brian Krassenstein was thinking when he posted a video of that latest Trump soundbite, fittingly calling Trump “Mr. Bankrupted 6 companies.”

BREAKING: Reporter:

“We are seeing the ports here in the US—the traffic has really slowed and thousands of dock workers and truck drivers are worried about their jobs”.

Trump: “That’s good, it means we lose less money”.

That's NOT what it means, Mr. "I bankrupted 6… pic.twitter.com/LrQ1fuwuiv

— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) May 8, 2025

Behind the scenes, however, it seems President Trump has been scrambling to make deals with major business partners. CNBC reports that on Thursday, President Trump made a landmark deal that maintains tariffs but still strengthens relationships with long-term allies. Noteworthy in the deal was the agreement that the UK can export 100,000 vehicles to the United States under a 10% tariff per year, with every additional car beyond that being slapped with a 25% tariff.

As for China, the Trump administration has already set up a meeting with the Chinese government in Switzerland, according to BBC. Reports suggest that the Chinese government has “full confidence” in its ability to handle the arising trade issues with Trump at this moment in time. However, U.S. top trade negotiator Stephen Olson shared with BBC that a lowering of tariffs is not going to happen any time soon.

But in true fashion for the confusion within the Trump administration, President Trump himself came forward to dispute what Olson suggested. Which just strengthens the doubts that he might not be the one calling all the shots.

Reuters reports that Trump wrote on Truth Social, “China should open up its market to USA — would be so good for them!!! Closed markets don’t work anymore!!!” He then went on to suggest that tariffs on China should drop from 145% to 80%, saying that the new figure “sounds about right.” Which is confusing, because the only reason China closed its markets to the United States is because he was the one who closed them. No wonder people are having doubts about his mental acuity.

Economists had already predicted that Trump’s strategy of being aggressive with every nation in the world would backfire. Now he has to thread the needle of trying to play tough while simultaneously walking back all the decisions he made in his initial 100 days.

All now rests upon how the negotiations in Switzerland with China will be concluded. If Trump cannot get a good deal, it’s all going to be downhill.