Former White House advisor Steve Bannon predicted Friday that President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff strategy could generate up to $6 trillion in revenue over the next decade, potentially reshaping U.S. fiscal policy and reviving Trump’s pre-pandemic economic model.
Speaking on his War Room podcast, Bannon cited projections from former Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro and others, claiming tariffs could bring in $300 to $600 billion annually, with much of that revenue not currently accounted for in official Congressional Budget Office forecasts.
“People are going off the CBO numbers… They’re not taking in cash flow coming from tariffs,” Bannon said. “The White House is getting much more aggressive in talking about their model and the growth rates.”
Bannon’s comments followed Trump’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on Apple if the company doesn’t shift iPhone production back to the U.S. He urged Apple CEO Tim Cook to move manufacturing out of India and other foreign markets.
Bannon tied Trump’s economic strategy to broader first-term policies like energy independence. “Energy underpins President Trump’s economy,” he said, praising the push for “full spectrum energy dominance” that brought down costs and boosted growth in 2018 and 2019.
He pointed to Q4 2019 growth of 3–3.5% as evidence that Trump’s model worked — even as the Federal Reserve was tightening and pulling liquidity out of the economy. “He did that with no inflation,” Bannon said.
In April, Trump announced a new round of reciprocal tariffs, increasing rates above the previous 10% baseline for countries like China with steep trade barriers. He declared a 90-day pause on most tariffs — except those targeting China — to leave room for negotiation.
On May 10, the U.S. slapped a 145% tariff on China, kicking off renewed trade talks. Meanwhile, Trump also secured massive foreign investment deals, including a $600 billion agreement with Saudi Arabia and more than $3 trillion in new commitments from the UAE during recent trips to the Middle East.
Bannon framed these moves as central to restoring economic strength, reining in deficits, and delivering a second wave of Trump-era prosperity.