A CNN panel became heated on Monday after Republican strategist Scott Jennings explained how President Donald Trump leveraged the threat of tariffs to negotiate deals with Mexico and Canada over border security and fentanyl. Trump had signed proclamations on Saturday to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada to address these issues but later reached agreements with both countries to delay the tariffs for 30 days.
Jennings pointed out to CNN analyst Bakari Sellers and Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell that the tariffs were never actually imposed. “No tariffs were levied. None were levied. Zero,” Jennings said, with Sellers replying, “But it’s the uncertainty and the chaos.”
“It’s one day!” Jennings shot back, with Rampell claiming, “Trump is trying to repackage the status quo as a victory. That’s what the leaders of these foreign countries are learning. You don’t actually have to give Trump anything.” The tariffs were originally supposed to take effect at midnight on Tuesday, but Trump agreed to delay them for 30 days each for Mexico and Canada after both countries agreed to some of his terms.
Mexico agreed to deploy 10,000 troops to help curb illegal immigration in exchange for a 30-day pause in the tariffs. In fiscal year 2024, nearly 22,000 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the U.S. border, with another 4,537 pounds seized in fiscal year 2025 so far, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, most of which was intercepted at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Drug overdoses claimed 105,007 American lives in 2023, a slight decrease from 107,941 in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized more than 55 million fentanyl pills in 2023 alone, CBS News reported. While China is a major source of fentanyl precursors, it did not reach an agreement before a 10% tariff was implemented.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, agreed to spend $1.3 billion to secure the U.S.-Canada border, which includes $200 million to combat fentanyl and the appointment of a fentanyl czar, in exchange for a 30-day pause on the 25% tariff.
“You have to let him announce victory on TV. Second of all, it’s not actually back to the status quo. It is worse than the status quo. As Richard points out, we have tarnished our relationships with our allies, whose help we need to rein in China, which I know you care about,” Rampell said. “Beyond that, think about the additional uncertainty that’s being added to the business environment right now.
“If you are a company and you don’t know if tariffs are coming or they’re not coming, you don’t know if your input costs are going to go up or they‘re not going to go up, why would you invest? Why would you invest in oil pipelines, for example, to Canada? I know you really care about the Keystone pipeline, for example,” Rampell continued. “You mean the one that Biden killed?” Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York shot back, with Jennings adding, “Yeah, that one.”
“We have — we have a deal,” Jennings said, with Rampell claiming, “We have a 30-day deal for nothing.” That led Jennings to respond: “You guys — you guys write your talking points 12 hours ago. It‘s 10:00. Look what happened in the interim period.”