‘Blunt political reality’: Republican leadership won’t be ditching Trump anytime soon

Many economists, from former New York Times columnist Paul Krugman to the University of Michigan’s Justin Wolfers, are warning that President Donald Trump’s steep new tariffs will cause a wide range of imported goods — from food to computers to building materials — to become much more expensive. And according to Krugman, tariffs may be one of the Trump policies that pushes the United States into a recession.Democratic lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), are scathing critics of Trump’s tariffs. And some GOP lawmakers are anti-tariffs as well, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). But in an article published by Politico on April 4, reporters Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill note that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) are reluctant to criticize Trump’s tariffs — even with a sharp downturn on Wall Street.READ MORE: How Trump’s economic policies imperil the ‘far-right parties’ he claims to support”Many Republican lawmakers are privately anxious about President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs,” Carney and Hill explain. “A handful of them have even expressed their alarm publicly. Their top leaders, however, are holding the line. Two days into Trump’s stunning trade war, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are showing no sign they will pressure the (Trump) Administration to change course despite a 10 percent drop in the stock market and stark warnings from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.”The reporters continue, “Instead, the two top leaders say they plan to give the Trump Administration time to find more solid economic footing. That’s despite their own free-trade-friendly views and unease they are hearing privately from their members.”Thune and Johnson, Carney and Hill note, are facing a “blunt political reality”: They “need Trump and MAGA-aligned lawmakers to get the GOP’s legislative agenda through their chambers, and there are few advantages to breaking with him.”Paul told Politico, “People are skittish. They’re all worried about it. But they are putting on a stiff upper lip to act as though nothing is happening and hoping it goes away.”READ MORE: ‘Get-rich-quick’: Analysis exposes ‘overlap between prosperity gospel adherents and Trump’s fan base’Read Politico’s full article at this link.

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