#ThanksTrump
“I’d like to kill ’em,” groused Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a close Trump ally, referring to the administration’s expanding list of tariffs."
"After a fruitless diplomacy campaign, some in the party are weighing confrontation. Most notably, Hatch is pushing legislation in his Finance Committee to reign in Trump. The effort seems to have more support from GOP leaders than legislation that would place new checks on Trump’s power to impose tariffs, which Roberts dubbed the “hand-grenade” option."
‘I’d like to kill ‘em’: GOP takes on Trump tariffs
Republican senators are at their breaking point with Donald Trump’s protectionist trade blitz.
Not a party meeting goes by these days at which multiple Republicans don’t vent that the president isn’t listening to them — and plot how to fight back.
“I’d like to kill ’em,” groused Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a close Trump ally, referring to the administration’s expanding list of tariffs.
The mounting frustration with the Republican president is a warning sign for the party amid what’s been a surprisingly favorable stretch. Trump appears, at least for now, to have weathered the internal GOP backlash against his family separation policy. He has a new Supreme Court vacancy to fill, and he ended last week celebrating the “economic miracle” he said his tax cuts created.
But Republican senators say they can’t get the president to comprehend that his tariffs offensive could upend all of that progress in short order. Commodity prices in the heartland are sagging, U.S. allies are retaliating with tariffs of their own — and GOP leaders are fretting that the booming economy is about to go into a pre-midterms nosedive.
GOP senators say Trump has heard them out at White House meetings and in phone calls. But he has plowed ahead, anyway: First Trump imposed tariffs on washing machines and solar panels, then slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports for Mexico, Europe and Canada, and now is moving toward new levies on foreign cars. The tit-for-tat is accelerating: Tariffs against China take effect this week, and Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on Friday.
After a fruitless diplomacy campaign, some in the party are weighing confrontation. Most notably, Hatch is pushing legislation in his Finance Committee to reign in Trump. The effort seems to have more support from GOP leaders than legislation that would place new checks on Trump’s power to impose tariffs, which Roberts dubbed the “hand-grenade” option.