Trump was asked about Paul Ryan’s comments today asking him to back down from his proposed trade tariffs.
Here’s what Trump said:
.@jonkarl: "Paul Ryan says he's worried about a trade war. Are you going to back down on the tariffs?"
Pres. Trump: "No, we're not backing down." https://t.co/NXJbt3AaTz pic.twitter.com/xfiFd2ySkl
— ABC News (@ABC) March 5, 2018
Of course he keeps repeating his protectionist propaganda, that NAFTA has been disastrous for American workers, blah blah blah.
This from a man who reportedly referred to his own chief economic advisor as a ‘globalist’, when globalism really refers to ceding sovereignty to outside powers, not to free trade.
Look, Trump has absolutely no credibility when it comes to trade. When he first came into office he threatened and bullied companies who had overseas manufacturing. Then he went after NAFTA while never really explaining why NAFTA was a so-called ‘disaster’. And of course now our Protectionist of the United States (POTUS) and economic-nationalist-in-chief is doing it again with new threats of damaging steel and aluminum tariffs.
There’s a rumor out there that Congress could take action against Trump if he goes all in on his protectionism:
🚨 A GOP source just now: “Congressional leaders won’t rule out potential action down the line.”
— Haley Byrd (@byrdinator) March 5, 2018
They really should not wait on this. They need to act now to curtail Trump’s power to impose high tariffs on steel, because clearly he’s going to do it one way or the other.