The News
President Donald Trump is taking the Republican Congress on an economic wild ride.
He’s threatening serious tariffs that could hit key US allies this weekend, just days after confounding Congress with his plans to freeze federal spending. Some GOP lawmakers are hoping they can still head off the tariffs, and a few complained about the conflicting guidance on government money, but most — especially those from red areas — said they’re feeling little heat for the president’s moves.
Not only is there little evidence that party legislators mind his muscular executive power, there’s plenty of signs that Trump-state Republicans are happy to take the ride with him.
“Wyoming people want to see some eggs broken back here,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo. They “just kind of trust [Trump] about matters of trade, of tariffs and policies that are trying to get a handle on the size of government.”
Some of those broken eggs could nonetheless end up creating a big mess for them to clean up in their home states. In particular, lawmakers are bracing for tangible fallout from Trump’s plans to enact 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico as soon as this weekend, absent an agreement on stemming drug flows over the border.
But it’s not certain whether Trump will impose tariffs on Saturday, as he suggested last week and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated just two days ago. After the deadly Washington-area airplane crash on Wednesday night, a White House official told Semafor that tariffs remain “a top priority” for Trump, then added that he’s “not held to any date.”
“It could be today, it could be tomorrow — but the president made a commitment when it comes to tariffs, and he plans on seeing that through,” the official said.
Even as the White House focused on the crash, the president signaled he might not back down from the tariffs by working on new executive orders. He told reporters on Thursday afternoon that he plans to move forward with his plan to implement 25% tariffs on the two countries, and would potentially sort out details — like whether it would apply to oil — that night.
It’s an important moment for congressional Republicans, who are divided between free traders and more populist members. The latter camp has no problem with Trump threatening, and following through with, tariffs on allies.
Senators in both parties pressed Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee to lead the Commerce Department, about those levies during his confirmation hearing this week.
“We’re just trying to set the groundwork for having somebody who remembers, as these decisions are made, there are damning consequences to some sectors of the economy, particularly agriculture,” said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., who described the next couple of days as “uncertain.”
Though some lawmakers are confused about the details of Trump’s tariff plans, the administration has maintained there “are clear lines to communications” between the White House and Capitol Hill.
It’s unclear whether lawmakers will be briefed before Trump makes any move, or which specific official is keeping Republicans apprised of the specifics of his decisions.
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Trump and his party have already hinted that they see his early-week tariff threats as effective. Already, a vow to slap tariffs on Colombia forced its government to back down on accepting deportation flights from the US. Given Trump’s penchant for using tariffs as leverage, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said he’d be “surprised” if Trump imposes blunt levies given the risks to the economy. He predicted more gradual and targeted moves instead.
“I’m not getting the indication that it’s going to be an immediate thing, because I know the president doesn’t want to drive up the price for fuel,” Rounds said. “That would be a serious problem if we just all of a sudden stopped heavy crude from coming into refiners in the United States. So I think they’ll be reasonable.”
Between looming tariffs and the federal funding freeze, it’s been a week of nail-gnawing uncertainty for Congress. The Trump administration’s Monday memo implementing what read like a blunt freeze on a multitude of federal grant programs sparked condemnation from Democrats, even as many Republicans defended the action as business as usual.
Amid growing coverage of the memo’s potential hits to nonprofits and aid programs across the country, the administration rescinded it on Wednesday, trying to clarify it was intended to target specific programs singled out by Trump’s previous executive orders. That claim was undercut by the White House press secretary, who posted on X that rescinding the memo was designed “to end any confusion created by” a court injunction that temporarily blocked the pause.
A judge on Wednesday cited Leavitt’s post and said he’s likely to issue a block on Trump’s spending pause as a result. Meanwhile, the White House official told Semafor that the administration hoped the court case would be moot due to the rescission, and that “anything deemed at odds with” Trump’s executive orders still would be paused.
“It was just obviously too confusing. We had a lot of people calling into our state and here [in D.C.] worried about it. So they took it down, but I’m not sure all the confusion’s gone,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. “We were getting it from health care, from domestic violence shelters, from colleges, universities, nonprofits. You name it.”
Even fiscal conservatives like Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said it “probably would have been smarter to target” Trump’s directives from the very beginning. Still, he said Trump’s overarching goal of scrutinizing spending is one he shares.
Johnson’s less sure about those tariffs. He’s told Trump they are a “double-edged” sword, adding that tariffs on Canada and Mexico could be “pretty tough.”
“As much as Trump thinks it’s the most beautiful word in the world, he’s actually asked people to study it first. I hope he’s pretty thoughtful,” Johnson said.
The View From The Trump Wing
The fault lines in the GOP are real, on both the tariffs and the spending freeze, but many Republicans clearly have Trump’s back despite the prospective economic hit.
Specifically when it comes to the standoff with Mexico and Canada over fentanyl and other drug traffic into the country, Trump’s biggest supporters are ready to argue for tariffs on the merits.
“They’re going to do what they have to do. We need to get it stopped,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.
Burgess and Shelby’s View
Between the memo drama, uncertainty both inside and outside the White House over tariffs, and questions about how to implement Trump’s agenda, it’s clear that a new degree of chaos and confusion is enveloping this administration.
Unlike Trump’s first term, it’s less due to infighting and more due to the move-fast-and-break-things approach that some presidential advisers have taken as they seek to quickly implement vast swaths of his agenda.
Perhaps too quickly, in some cases.
But Trump’s push to add two former Democrats to his Cabinet — at the same time as he’s unilaterally imposing tariffs and freezing spending — makes one thing clear: He expects Republicans will fall in line.
Notable
- Trump’s aides are looking for a last-minute offramp to avoid enacting universal tariffs on Mexico and Canada, The Wall Street Journal reported.