Tariffs and Trump’s first 100 days dominate discussion at spring JANUS Forum

On the eve of President Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs went into effect, more than 200 Miami University students and staff and Oxford residents gathered in Wilkes Theater as two national political figures aimed to answer the question: Is this the new normal?

The JANUS Forum, a semesterly event sponsored by Miami’s Department of Political Science, brings together leaders on opposing sides of the political spectrum to discuss issues ranging from marijuana legalization to the death penalty. The April 8 event featured Karine Jean-Pierre, former press secretary to former President Joe Biden, and Marc Short, former Chief of Staff to former Vice President Mike Pence. The theme was President Trump’s (second) first 100 days in office.

The forum came after more than a week of economic and political uncertainty following President Trump’s announcement of steep tariffs on many countries in retaliation for what he called unfair trade practices. A New York Times analysis found that the tariff rates were determined by dividing the U.S. trade deficit — how much more we import than export — by total imports from each country. Those tariffs went into effect at midnight April 9, hours after the forum ended. Trump then reversed course on most of the tariffs Wednesday afternoon.

Short described himself as a traditional conservative and broke with Trump on his tariff policy when discussing the economy. The only time the U.S. hasn’t had trade deficits, he said, was during the Great Depression. Beyond having negative economic consequences, he said the tariffs could weaken national security as countries with weaker trade relations are less likely to stay on good terms with one another.

“One of the reasons America has a trade deficit with other countries is because America is the wealthiest nation in the world,” Short said. “We can afford to buy things from other people, things that they can’t afford to buy from us.”

Jean-Pierre said some tariffs can be good, but the calculations the Trump administration is currently using will ultimately hurt Americans despite his platform of lowering costs.

“If this continues, we’re going to go into a recession because of an action by one individual,” Jean-Pierre said. “... You have policies that are purely cruel to people — cruel. Tariffs, this decision, is cruel to people, and it makes no sense.”

Short also broke with Trump on his appointment of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has promoted vaccine skepticism in the past and been criticized for his handling of a measles outbreak in Texas this year. During the 2024 presidential election, Kennedy also ran as a pro-abortion Democrat and then an independent, and Short viewed Republicans supporting him as a mistake for anti-abortion ideals.

Trump’s first term ended with the Covid-19 pandemic, and Pence led the U.S. response taskforce. Short defended the administration’s handling of the pandemic and Operation Warp Speed to create mRNA vaccines but criticized school closures and vaccine mandates in what turned out to be one of the most tense moments of the forum.

Jean-Pierre claimed that the Biden administration was “left with nothing” when he took office in 2021 and that there was no comprehensive plan for vaccine rollout or pandemic recovery from the Trump administration. In a heated exchange, Short said vaccine production was a “huge accomplishment” of the Trump administration and that they kept medical supplies stocked globally. The FDA gave emergency authorization for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in December 2020 before Biden took office, but the Biden administration handled much of the rollout.

Federal funding freezes, layoffs and budget cuts have also been top of mind for many Americans. Jean-Pierre and Short also clashed over efforts to reduce government spending. While Jean-Pierre said Republicans are targeting entitlements like medicare and social security, Short denied that elected officials have current plans to cut entitlement spending but said he wishes they would.

“The rest of the entire federal budget — the National Park Service, every federal employee, the Pentagon, all of that — is dwarfed by our entitlement programs and interest on the debt,” Short said. “We are not being honest with the American people if we sit here and tell you that we don’t have to touch entitlements.”

According to polling earlier this year, a majority of Americans believe the government should spend more on social security, education, Medicare and Medicaid, not less. While Republicans haven’t introduced specific legislation to cut Medicare or Medicaid funding, a budget resolution passed in March sets a target of $880 billion in cuts from the Energy and Commerce Committee budget over the next 10 years. Of the $8.9 trillion in non-Medicare spending that the committee oversees, $8.2 trillion is related to Medicaid.

Jean-Pierre said potential cuts to entitlement programs would benefit the wealthiest Americans at lower-income Americans’ expense.

“We have to be honest with the American people … What is currently happening in this administration is that they want to cut Medicaid, cut entitlements to give the wealthiest among us a tax break — billionaires and corporations,” Jean-Pierre said.

During the hour-and-a-half forum, Jean-Pierre and Short also touched on age limits for candidates — which both opposed — First Amendment rights and Trump’s efforts to shape the White House Press Corps, antisemitism, immigration and advice for students going into public affairs.