Fox & Friends praises Trump for “quick fix” on affordability by lowering his tariffs — which Fox used to celebrate

Fox was an evangelist for Trump's tariff policies throughout the campaign and his first year back in office

Written by Zachary Pleat

Published

Fox News’ flagship morning show, Fox & Friends, is giving President Donald Trump undue credit for an announcement that he will lower tariffs on some imports from four Latin American countries as part of a pivot to address affordability in the wake of off-year Democratic election victories. 

However, these tariffs — which have drastically increased the price of coffee and bananas far above the rate of inflation and contributed to higher beef prices — were imposed by Trump himself, with widespread support from Fox.

From the November 14, 2025, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends

​BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): So the Trump administration is working to bring down the cost of living big time, putting a major focus on affordability.

AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): The push comes as President Trump announces new trade agreements with four countries that would lower tariffs on imports of goods like coffee and bananas.

...

KILMEADE: I would think there's a couple things the president is doing, like, immediately. He's saying I'm going to cut tariffs on — for El Salvador, Ecuador, and Argentina. Why? Because he looked in the grocery store, or his people did, and bananas and coffee are way too high. Why? They've gone up substantially. Some of it is due to tariffs. But the way to take action immediately is to cut 'em so they'll immediately come back here. He's also going to reduce taxes with Guatemala and El Salvador when it comes to textiles in our region to bring it back here. So that's a quick fix.

Economists warned during the 2024 election season that Trump's tariffs would raise prices and reignite inflation, which has accelerated from 2.3% in April when Trump announced his massive tariffs to 3% in September. But they nevertheless met with broad approval from Fox News personalities over the past year. 

The network fully endorsed Trump’s “Liberation Day” messaging of much higher tariffs on imports, with nearly 100 Fox personalities and guests cheering them on for a week before the president paused them for months.

Fox personalities also repeatedly defended Trump’s tariffs and dismissed their contribution to increased prices. As economists this summer explained that Trump’s tariffs were beginning to show up in inflation data, Fox Business hosts Maria Bartiromo and Jackie DeAngelis and guest Art Laffer denied any tariff impact on prices. 

Many at Fox were also dismissive of the impacts of Trump’s tariffs on the auto industry, where they were projected to raise car prices by thousands of dollars and have cost automakers billions.

Fox’s coverage of Trump’s tariffs has been so warped that a Media Matters study covering August showed viewers of Fox Business’ flagship morning program, Mornings with Maria, were simply never told that tariffs were taxes paid by American businesses and consumers.

They were also fairly frequently told what a great source of revenue Trump’s tariffs were — and rarely informed that the tariffs were contributing to higher prices they were paying.