President Donald Trump warned Wall Street investors that they should expect a tumultuous period of economic activity amidst the ongoing tariffs battle with China.

“I’m not saying there won’t be a little pain,” Trump said but reminded them that stock markets were up 42 percent since he was first elected. “We might lose a little bit of it but we’re going to have a much stronger country when we’re finished and that’s what I’m all about.”

The president made his remarks during an exclusive interview with the Bernie and Sid radio show in New York City. He repeated his message on Twitter that the United States had already lost the trade war with China.

“We don’t have a trade war, we lost the trade war,” Trump said, pointing out former presidents Bill Clinton, both Bushes and Barack Obama all failed to address the trade disparity with China.

He reminded the audience that he campaigned to be tough on China.

“The easiest thing for me to do would be to just close my eyes and forget it — if I did that, I’m not doing my job,” Trump said.