U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that tariffs imposed on U.S. trading partners could become “much steeper” and claimed that his administration has so far been “very nice.”  

Trump made the remarks on Thursday during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

Earlier in the day, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had been very kind and gentle toward countries around the world, but that he could raise tariffs at any time.

While criticizing the U.S. Federal Reserve’s recent decision to freeze its key interest rate, Trump wrote that most of the countries paying tariffs to the U.S. are “cash machines” that enjoy low interest rates only because the U.S. allows it.

Trump then warned that, with a mere flip of his pen, billions more dollars would flow into the U.S., and that these nations would have to make money "the old-fashioned way."