Abby Phillip Criticizes Trump’s Unkept Trade Deal Promises

CNN anchor Abby Phillip didn’t hold back on her criticism of President Donald Trump and his inability to make good on his promises.

During Monday night’s episode of “CNN NewsNight,” Phillip aired a mashup of videos featuring Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick — and used the segment to highlight what she described as repeated inaccuracies coming from the White House.

“We are two weeks from the new deadline for nations to make trade deals or face new tariffs, and the commerce secretary is once again promising he’s got the goods,” Phillip stated.

She was referring to Trump’s repeated claim that he has completed 200 trade deals — despite there being only 195 countries in the world. To emphasize the disconnect, Phillip rolled a series of clips showing Lutnick enthusiastically talking up the outcome of these alleged deals.

“Oh, they’re going to love the deals that President Trump and I are doing,” Lutnick said in one clip. “I mean they’re just going to love them. This is going to be… the next two weeks are going to be weeks for the record books. President Trump is going to deliver for the American people.”

Phillip added that Trump’s promises “have been limited at best,” noting that the administration’s habit of “teasing” big announcements has become a “trend.”

She followed with more clips of Lutnick hyping the process. On June 11, he said the administration had “a significant amount of deals.” Then, on June 26, he promised to “announce a whole bunch of deals over the next week or so.”

The veteran journalist also made note that on Sunday, Lutnick gave false hope to the American people, citing that “only four trade agreements have been announced.”

Later in the segment, Phillip turned her focus to “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary and questioned him on the status of the negotiations. O’Leary then referenced earlier comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“Talks are moving along, but the important thing here is the quality of the deal, not the timing of the deals,” Bessent said. “You know, again, we’re proceeding at pace with the negotiations, but we’re not going to rush for the sake of doing deals.”

Phillip then stated that the messaging has become “contradictory.”

Bessent mentioned on July 6 that the Trump administration anticipated finalizing a wave of trade deals before its initial target date of July 7.