WASHINGTON – President Trump’s promise to conclude 90 trade deals in 90 days is still alive, the White House says, issuing a prime clarification.

Karoline Leavitt, the president’s spokesperson, said that Trump never promised to do the 90 deals in 90 consecutive days. “These kinds of massive arrangements can take quite a few days and even weeks to conclude,” Leavitt said. “The president knows this and has been emphasizing to his advisers that they should take the time needed to get everything right before agreeing to a deal that is in the best interests of the United States of America.”

In April, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro had issued the “90 deals in 90 days” vow. To date, the U.S. has concluded all of two trade deals, one with the United Kingdom and one with Vietnam. Both Navarro and Leavitt insisted that “a vast number” of other deals were still being done and promised results within days. They did not specify how many (deals or days). 

Responding to reports that Trump had extended the assumed deadline to August 1, Leavitt reiterated the idea that the days did not have to be consecutive and that Trump’s issuing a further extension wouldn’t really affect the overall outcome. “Eventually, we will have done all of these deals,” Leavitt said. “Each day that we complete a trade deal is a day in the win column, so we will be at 90 days when we have done 90 deals.”

Democratic Party Leader Ken Martin said that he couldn’t think of a response that would be fit to print in SFW contexts.