This morning Trump heralded his high tariffs as the greatest, saying they are forcing countries to negotiate and those who refuses to pay the price:
Countries that have treated us unfairly on trade for years are all coming to Washington to negotiate. This should have taken place many years ago but,
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018
as the saying goes, better late than never!
Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. It’s as simple as that - and everybody’s talking! Remember, we are the “piggy bank” that’s being robbed. All will be Great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018
Paul Ryan was asked about this a few minutes ago, where he plainly said that he disagrees with Trump on this, that tariffs are bad and there are better ways to accomplish his goals without using tariffs:
Speaker Ryan responds to Pres. Trump's tweet that "tariffs are the greatest!"
"I've made it pretty clear I don't think tariffs are the right answer. I don't support tariffs. I think tariffs are taxes, and I think there are better tools that we can use" https://t.co/k8w3BJSi7d pic.twitter.com/RusnLxP0WN
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 24, 2018
I couldn’t agree more. I wish Trump would abandon these tariffs and I hope that Congress wrestles this unilateral power out of his hands. But as I’ve suggested before, don’t expect that to happen before the elections. That would start a fight that Republicans don’t want to have, as they hope to win seats in November.