President Donald Trump on Thursday contradicted his top aides on the purpose of his sprawling new global tariff regime, adding to the uncertainty over the trade war that has sent markets reeling.

Earlier in the day, top Trump aide Peter Navarro and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the president was not looking to strike deals over the tariffs. “This is not a negotiation,” Navarro told CNBC.

White House officials also circulated internal talking points telling surrogates that the tariffs should not be characterized as a starting point for negotiations, according to three people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal matters.

But after markets closed down sharply, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he would be open to striking deals with individual countries.

“Every country is calling us. That’s the beauty of what we do,” Trump said. “We put ourselves in the driver’s seat. If we would have asked these countries to do us a favor, they would have said no. Now they will do anything for us.”

Trump added: “The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”

The diverging statements came as stock markets slumped worldwide on fears of an escalating trade war. On Wednesday, Trump announced a 10 percent tariff that would apply to imports from every country and a separate set of what he called “reciprocal” tariffs that impose a higher country-specific rate. While most analysts expect the 10 percent tariff to remain in place for the rest of Trump’s term, there has been substantial uncertainty about the purpose of the country-specific tariffs, which imposed import duties from 11 percent to 50 percent on dozens of countries.

Exactly what Trump’s plans are for these country-specific tariffs could have major consequences for the global economy. The White House announcement Wednesday led to a sharp sell-off on Wall Street and deepened fears of a recession in the United States. All three major stock indexes slid Thursday, and foreign leaders are preparing measures to retaliate against the president’s import duties, which could drive stocks lower and further weaken economies worldwide.

Some analysts have said the market would have fallen even more if not for the broad expectation that Trump will eventually soften the so-called reciprocal tariffs.

“I hope these reciprocal tariffs get negotiated down and don’t trigger a 1930s-style tit-for-tat trade war. We’re hoping the art of the deal is still what motivates the president,” said Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, which provides market analysis.

The administration and its allies have given investors some grounds for optimism: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, for instance, said this month that tariffs could be averted on some countries through successful negotiations. He said in February of reciprocal tariffs: “If you take it to zero, we’ll take it to zero.”

One of the president’s sons made similar suggestions on social media Thursday.

“I wouldn’t want to be the last country that tries to negotiate a trade deal with @realDonaldTrump,” Eric Trump posted on X. “The first to negotiate will win — the last will absolutely lose. I have seen this movie my entire life…”

Asked about Eric Trump’s post, a White House official noted that he was not speaking on behalf of the administration.

But analysts point out that there’s reason to believe Trump is girding for a long battle with U.S. trading partners over the tariffs. The internal talking points suggest a deal may not happen quickly, and Lutnick told CNN, “I don’t think there’s any chance that Trump is going to back off his tariffs.”

Chris Rupkey, chief economist of Fwdbonds, said Lutnick’s comments appeared to confirm what Trump said Wednesday — that the president is dug in on the sweeping new trade barriers and that it would not be easy to have them removed.

“I listened to the commerce secretary and theoretically there’s going to be negotiations — but it would have to be some kind of deal for him to back off the reciprocal tariffs to this degree. I don’t think any negotiation will get it down enough to matter,” Rupkey said. “I think people are not really listening to the president.”

Michael Birnbaum contributed to this report.