Trump live: Mike Pence slams tariff plan in major intervention against former ally

Independent

06-05-2025

Former Vice President Mike Pence has rebuked Donald Trump 's sweeping tariffs and the White House 's 'wavering support' for Ukraine in a bruising CNN interview.
A day after receiving the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his actions concerning the January 6 insurrection, Pence sat down with Kaitlin Collins Monday to deliver one of his most wide-ranging critiques of the president's second administration.
While the former vice president said he supports using tariffs to pressure China into trade talks, he argued Trump's broader levies on allies and trade partners will 'ultimately harm the American economy.'
Pence also expressed disappointment in Trump's support of Kyiv, warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin 'doesn't want peace. He wants Ukraine' and that the Trump administration 'has only emboldened Russia.'
It came as Trump doubled down on his plans to resurrect Alcatraz as a prison after it had been shuttered for decades in an Oval Office press conference Monday. 'I mean, it represents something very strong, very powerful, in terms of law and order. Our country needs law and order,' he said.
Trump's former VP Mike Pence scorches president's sweeping tariffs
Donald Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence has the commander-in-chief's sweeping tariffs in a blistering CNN interview.
Pence sat down with Kaitlin Collins on Monday to deliver one of his most wide-ranging critiques of the president's second administration.
While the former vice president said he supports using tariffs to pressure China into trade talks, he argued Trump's broader levies on allies and trade partners will 'ultimately harm the American economy.'
'The administration is advancing policies that are not targeted at countries that have been abusing our trade relationship, but rather are essentially new industrial policy that will result in inflation, that will harm consumers and ultimately harm the American economy,' he said.
'My view always is free trade with free nations – that we ought to be engaging our trading partners across the free world to lower trade barriers, lower nontariff barriers and subsidies.'
Pence added that the U.S. 'ought to get tough' with authoritarian regimes
James Liddell6 May 2025 09:14
Trump announces Alcatraz reopening hours after 'Escape from Alcatraz' airing
Good morning and welcome to The Independent 's live blog.
During a Sunday evening blitz of social media posts, Donald Trump demanded that one of the most notorious prisons in American history be reopened.
Incidentally, the president's sudden push for the tourist destination of Alcatraz to once again become a maximum-security prison complex came just hours after a South Florida PBS station aired the 1979 classic film Escape from Alcatraz. The president spent the past weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort, which is located in Palm Beach.
During an Oval Office press conference Monday, the president was asked why he decided that he needed to resurrect Alcatraz as a prison after it had been shuttered for decades, prompting Trump to deliver a rambling response that included him touting his own cinematic vision.
'Well, I guess I was supposed to be a moviemaker,' Trump — who recently announced his intention to implement 100 percent tariffs on foreign films — declared
Justin Baragona has more:
Trump announced Alcatraz reopening hours after 'Escape from Alcatraz' aired on PBS
The 1979 film starring Clint Eastwood about the daring 1962 escape attempt aired on the local PBS channel just six hours before the president made his demand that the prison be reopened
James Liddell6 May 2025 09:10