Josh Hawley says he had ‘good chat' with Trump after dustup over stock trading bill
The Missouri Republican told Fox News late Wednesday that it's 'not the worst thing' he's ever been called and that he and the president 'had a good chat' clearing up confusion over the bill.
The misunderstanding, Hawley said, was that Trump would have to sell his Mar-a-Lago private club and other assets.
'Not the case at all,' Hawley said on 'Jesse Watters Primetime.'
It was the second time in many days that Trump laid into senators in his own party as the president tries, sometimes without success, to publicly pressure them to fall in line. Earlier, Trump tore into veteran GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa over an obscure Senate procedure regarding nominations.
In a social media post, Trump called Hawley a 'second-tier Senator' who was playing into the hands of Democrats.
Trump added: 'I don't think real Republicans want to see their President, who has had unprecedented success, TARGETED, because of the 'whims' of a second-tier Senator named Josh Hawley!'
Stock trading bans gain support
Stock trading by members of Congress has long been an issue that both parties have tried to tackle, especially as some elected officials have become wealthy while in elected office. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, it was disclosed that lawmakers were trading as information about the health crisis before it became public. Insider trading laws don't always apply to the types of information lawmakers receive.
Hawley's legislation with the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, sailed out of the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, after his support delivered a bipartisan vote over the objections of the other Republicans, who have majority control.
GOP senators had been working with the White House on the stock trade bill, and some supported a broad carve-out to exclude the president from the ban, but it failed, with Hawley joining Democrats to block it.
Trump also complained that Hawley joined with Democrats to block another amendment that would have investigated the stock trades of Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker emerita, and her spouse. Paul Pelosi has been a much-watched trader, but the California lawmaker's office said she personally does not own stock.
Hawley said after his conversation with Trump that the president 'reiterated to me he wants to see a ban on stock trading by people like Nancy Pelosi and members of Congress, which is what we passed.' The senator also suggested the Democratic leader should be prosecuted, but it's not clear on what grounds.
Pelosi supports Hawley's bill
Pelosi has said repeatedly that she's not involved in her husband's work on investments, strongly supports the bill and looks forward to voting for it in the House.
'The American people deserve confidence that their elected leaders are serving the public interest — not their personal portfolios,' she said.
In a joint statement, Hawley and Peters said the legislation, called the Honest Act, builds on an earlier bill and would ban members of Congress, the president, vice president and their spouses from holding, buying or selling stock. An earlier proposal from Hawley, named after Pelosi, had focused more narrowly on lawmakers.
If the bill were to become law, it would immediately prohibit elected officials, including the president, from buying stocks and would ban them from selling stocks for 90 days after enactment. It also requires the elected officials to divest from all covered investments, but not until the beginning of their next term in office — shielding the term-limited president from that requirement.
'We have an opportunity here today to do something that the public has wanted to do for decades,' Hawley told the panel. 'And that is to ban members of Congress from profiting on information that frankly only members of Congress have on the buying and selling of stock.'
During the committee hearing, tensions flared as Republicans sought other approaches.
Republicans fail to exempt Trump from stock trading ban
GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida proposed one amendment that would exempt the president, the vice president, their spouses and dependent children from the legislation, and the other one that would have required a report on the Pelosi family's trades. Both were defeated, with Hawley joining the Democrats.
'We are one step closer to getting this bill passed into law and finally barring bad actors from taking advantage of their positions for their own financial gain,' Peters said in a statement.
One Republican, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, said the overall bill is 'legislative demagoguery.'
'We do have insider trading laws. We have financial disclosure. Trust me, we have financial disclosure,' Johnson said. 'So I don't see the necessity of this.'
GOP's Grassley 'offended' by Trump's personal attack
Trump's post criticizing Hawley comes after a similar blowback directed Tuesday night at Grassley.
In that post, Trump pressured Grassley to do away with the Senate's longtime 'blue slip' custom that often forces bipartisan support on presidential nominations of federal judges. The practice requires both senators in a state to agree to push a nominee forward for a vote. Trump told Grassley to do away with the practice.
'Senator Grassley must step up,' Trump said, while claiming that he helped the senator, who was first elected in 1980, to win reelection.
Grassley earlier Wednesday said he was 'offended' by what the president said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
15 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Major US alcohol groups are begging Trump to slash tariffs before the holidays to keep them from losing $2 billion in sales
As the holiday season looms, US liquor groups are begging Trump to kill the tariffs they say could ruin their most lucrative stretch of the year. A group of 57 associations and guilds called the Toasts not Tariffs Coalition, said in a Wednesday letter to the White House that tariffs could result in a $2 billion sales loss in the holidays. "We reiterate our urgent request that the U.S. and EU come to an agreement to secure fair and reciprocal trade on spirits and wine," the group wrote in the letter. "As we approach the critical holiday season, a period that is essential to the success of our industries, we implore you to secure this important deal for the U.S. as soon as possible," it added. The letter comes as Trump's new tariffs went into effect at midnight on Thursday, with the European Union being slammed with a 15% tariff rate on most goods. However, the EU said on Tuesday said it would pause retaliatory tariffs for six months. Other countries, such as Switzerland and India, were hit much harder, with tariff rates of 39% and 50%, respectively. India's tariffs are set to go into effect later in August. In March, Trump also threatened to impose a 200% tariff on wine and other alcohol from the EU. The coalition said it estimated that a 15% tariff on EU wine and spirits could result in more than 25,000 American job losses and nearly $2 billion in lost sales. Per data from the US Distilled Spirits Council, the US exported $2.4 billion worth of spirits in 2024. Groups in the Toasts not Tariffs coalition represent US liquor heavyweights like Beam Suntory, the parent of Jim Beam, and Jack Daniel's owner Brown-Forman. The coalition also includes non-liquor bodies like the National Retail Federation and the National Restaurant Association. The Wednesday letter was the group's second appeal to the White House. It sent a similar letter in January, urging Trump to exclude wine and spirits from his coming tariffs and convince the US's trading partners not to apply retaliatory tariffs on their products. Kentucky's bourbon makers also appealed to the White House to ease up on tariffs after Canada's boycott of US alcohol in March. The Kentucky Distillers' Association said in a March statement on X that retaliatory tariffs would have " far-reaching consequences across Kentucky, home to 95% of the world's bourbon."
San Francisco Chronicle
16 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
New US tariffs cloud outlook for exporters in Asia and beyond
BANGKOK (AP) — President Donald Trump's new tariff rates on U.S. imports from dozens of countries took effect Thursday, the latest chapter in the saga of Trump's reshaping of global trade. But many questions remain. Trump has threatened tariffs of up to 200% on imports of pharmaceuticals and has ordered a 100% import tax on computer chips. Most U.S. imports of copper, steel and aluminum are subject to a 50% tariff. There's still no agreement on what tariffs might apply to products shipped from China. India has no deal yet and faces a potential 50% tariff as Trump pressures it to stop buying oil from Russia. Recent data shows uncertainty is clouding the outlook for exporters around the world as a rush to beat the tariffs during a pause for negotiation tapers off. Companies are reporting billions of dollars in higher costs or losses due to the higher import duties. Global financial markets took Thursday's tariff adjustments in stride, with Asian shares and U.S. futures mostly higher. Here's where things stand in what has proven to be a fast-changing policy landscape. The tariffs taking effect this week The tariffs announced on Aug. 1 apply to 66 countries, Taiwan and the Falkland Islands. They are a revised version of what Trump called " reciprocal tariffs," announced on April 2: import taxes of up to 50% on goods from countries that have a trade surplus with the United States, along with 10% 'baseline'' taxes on almost everyone else. That move triggered sell-offs in financial markets and Trump backtracked to allow time for trade talks. The president has bypassed Congress, which has authority over taxes, by invoking a 1977 law to declare the trade deficit a national emergency. That's being challenged in court, but the revised tariffs still took effect. To keep their access to the huge American market, major trading partners have struck deals with Trump. The United Kingdom agreed to 10% tariffs and the European Union, South Korea and Japan accepted U.S. tariffs of 15%. Those are much higher than the low single-digit rates they paid last year, but down from the 30% Trump had ordered for the EU and the 25% he ordered for Japan. Countries in Africa and Asia are mostly facing lower rates than the ones Trump decreed in April. Thailand, Pakistan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines cut deals with Trump, settling for rates of around 20%. Indonesia views its 19% tariff deal as a leg up against exporters in other countries that will have to pay slightly more, said Fithra Faisal Hastiadi, a spokesperson in the Indonesian president's office. 'We were competing against Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and China ... and they are all subject to higher reciprocal tariffs,' Hastiadi said. 'We believe we will stay competitive.' The latest situation for China and India Trump has yet to announce whether he will extend an Aug. 12 deadline for reaching a trade agreement with China that would forestall earlier threats of tariffs of up to 245%. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the president is deciding about another 90-day delay to allow time to work out details of an agreement setting tariffs on most products at 50%, including extra import duties related to illicit trade in fentanyl. Higher import taxes on small parcels from China have hurt smaller factories and layoffs have accelerated, leaving some 200 million workers reliant on 'flexible work' — the gig economy — for their livelihoods, the government estimates. India also has no broad trade agreement with Trump. On Wednesday, Trump he signed an executive order placing an extra 25% tariff for its purchases of Russian oil, bringing combined U.S. tariffs to 50%. India's Foreign Ministry has stood firm, saying it began importing oil from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, a 'necessity compelled by the global market situation.' The hardest-hit countries Struggling, impoverished Laos and war-torn Myanmar and Syria face 40-41% rates. Trump whacked Brazil with a 50% import tax largely because he's unhappy with its treatment of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. South Africa said the steep 30% rate Trump has ordered on the exporter of precious gems and metals has put 30,000 jobs at risk and left the country scrambling to find new markets outside the United States. Even wealthy Switzerland is under the gun. Swiss officials were visiting Washington this week to try to stave off a whopping 39% tariff on U.S. imports of its chocolate, watches and other products. The rate is over 2 1/2 times the 15% rate on European Union goods exported to the United States. Canada and Mexico have their own arrangements Goods that comply with the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that Trump negotiated during his first term are excluded from the tariffs. Even though U.S. neighbor and ally Canada was hit by a 35% tariff after it defied Trump, a staunch supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, by saying it would recognize a Palestinian state, nearly all of its exports to the U.S. remain duty free. Canada's central bank says 100% of energy exports and 95% of other exports are compliant with the agreement since regional rules mean Canadian and Mexico companies can claim preferential treatment. The slice of Mexican exports not covered by the USMCA is subject to a 25% tariff, down from an earlier rate of 30%, during a 90-day negotiating period that began last week. The outlook for businesses Surveys of factory managers offer monthly insights into export orders, hiring and other indicators of how businesses are faring. The latest figures in the United States and globally mostly showed conditions deteriorating. In Japan, factory output contracted in July, purchasing activity fell and hiring slowed, according to the S&P Global Manufacturing PMI. But the data were collected before Trump announced a trade deal that cut tariffs on Japanese exports to 15% from 25%. Similar surveys show a deterioration in manufacturing conditions worldwide, as a boost from 'front loading' export orders to beat higher tariffs faded, S&P Global said. Similar measures for service industries have remained stronger, reflecting more domestic business activity. In Asia, that includes a rebound in tourism across the region. Corporate bottom lines are also taking a hit. Honda Motor said Wednesday that it estimates the cost from higher tariffs at about $3 billion.
San Francisco Chronicle
16 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
How India ended up facing steep US tariffs despite its strategic partnership
NEW DELHI (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the United States on its ally to 50%. India has called the additional tariffs 'unfortunate.' Trump's Wednesday announcement came as India and the U.S. are still negotiating a trade deal that has faced roadblocks after it was first announced when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Trump in Washington earlier this year. It also comes at a time when ties between India and the U.S. appear to have taken a hit even as Modi and Trump share a warm relationship. February Trump imposes tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. He initially spares India, despite repeatedly calling the country a 'tariff king," but threatens that high tariffs are coming. February 14 Modi meets Trump in Washington in an effort to resolve trade concerns. Trump again warns of higher U.S. tariffs on Indian goods. India and the U.S. agree to work on a trade deal and expand bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. They don't share details as to how the target would be achieved. Modi says he expects a deal to be completed later this year. March 3 India's trade minister, Piyush Goyal, visits Washington and meets his counterparts to initiate negotiations for the bilateral trade agreement. April 21 India and the U.S. also finalize the terms of reference for the trade negotiation, bringing them a step closer to an agreement. May 10 Trump says he stopped military hostilities between India and Pakistan by offering possible trade concessions to both. India is angered by Trump's claims and disputes them. May 17 Trade minister Goyal leads a team of senior Indian officials to Washington for more negotiations. India's commerce secretary says the proposed bilateral trade agreement is progressing 'very well.' June 27 Trump signals a deal may be close. 'We're having some great deals. We have one coming up, maybe with India, a very big one, where we're going to open up India,' he says. July An Indian trade delegation visits Washington for another round of discussions, which end without reaching a breakthrough. July Goyal says India is ready to make trade deals in 'the national interest,' but not just to meet deadlines. July 31 Trump imposes 25% tariffs on Indian imports. He warns of further penalties for India because of its buying of Russian oil, and calls its economy 'dead.' August 6 Trump vows an additional 25% import taxes on India to punish the country for its purchases of Russian oil, bringing combined tariffs to 50%. The tariffs are set to go into effect after 21 days.
