Even some of Trump’s loyal lackeys are wavering after tariff turmoil
After imposing tariffs on about 60 countries on his so-called “Liberation Day,” President Donald Trump is insisting that the stock market will “boom” again—but some of his most loyal supporters seem to be wavering.
During an episode of his podcast on Thursday, right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro called Trump’s actions “probably unconstitutional” and “one of the biggest tax increases … in the history of America.”
“Trade wars are, in fact, not good and not easy to win. It is predicated on a bad idea of how international trade works,” Shapiro said, adding that Trump has a “fundamental misunderstanding of trade deficits.”
“Trade deficits have nothing to do with the health of an economy. I can name you a period in American history where there was a fairly large surplus in America’s balance of trade: the entire Great Depression,” he said.
Another pro-Trumper with a surprising stance on Trump’s tariff policy is CNN commentator Scott Jennings.
“I have mixed feelings about this, truthfully,” he said on CNN’s “News Night.”
“I wasn’t trained to believe in tariffs. You know, those of us who grew up as traditional Republicans have always thought what Ronald Reagan thought. And so what Trump is doing here is implanting new economic theory DNA inside of the Republican Party,” he added.
Jennings also told his co-host that some of his GOP colleagues are outright “rejecting” Trump’s tariffs, while others are “reluctantly going along with it.” But, of course, there are many who are “enthusiastically embracing it,” he said.
“So, I will just say this. If it works, it will be the ballsiest and gutsiest thing a president has done in decades. And if it doesn’t work, the political consequences fall on the shoulders of one man,” Jennings said.
Even GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has shied away from expressing full support for Trump’s tariffs. During an interview with Larry Kudlow on Fox Business, Cruz said that he disagrees with Trump’s tariffs.
“So, Larry, you know I’m always in favor of more tax cuts and bigger tax cuts, and I’m fighting to make this tax cut as big and bold as possible. Look, I think it is a mistake to assume that we will have high tariffs in perpetuity. I don’t think that would be good economic policy. I am not a fan of tariffs,” Cruz said.
As of Friday morning, the Dow had dropped more than 2,000 points—its biggest decline since the beginning of the coronavirus in 2020.
Even Trump’s billionaire tech besties are feeling the pain. Collectively, the “Magnificent 7”—the top seven tech companies in the stock market—have lost a combined $1 trillion.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell also forewarned that inflation could be here to stay—and it’s all thanks to Trump’s tariffs.
“We face a highly uncertain outlook with elevated risks of both higher unemployment and higher inflation,” he said. “While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent.”