Can Trump call off his trade war with China while pretending he’s not?

Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump and his administration have spent much of the past two days signaling a desire to deescalate the trade war with China that they started.

But every time investors get excited a breakthrough might be imminent, Trump officials have thrown some cold water on their enthusiasm — likely because they’re afraid of looking like they’re climbing down.

What did they say, exactly? On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told investors at a closed-door event that the current status quo of 145 percent tariffs on China is “unsustainable.” He added: “I would posit that over the very near future, there will be a deescalation.”

Later that day, Trump signaled he agreed. “145 percent is very high and it won’t be that high,” he told reporters, adding: “It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.”