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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's move-fast-and-break-things tariff strategy collides with reality
President Donald Trump's move-fast-and-break-things ethos this week led to a major setback for his trade policy, leaving the White House scrambling to chart its way around a potentially devastating legal ruling. Yet with the central element of his economic agenda in jeopardy, Trump is digging in on his vow to impose steep tariffs by any means necessary — and stick it to those who question his strength and think he's bound to 'chicken out.' He and administration officials have said that negotiations with other countries will continue, are insisting they'll win their current tariff battle in court and are even preparing back-up strategies for new tariffs in case they don't. Trump's determination to move fast could slow implementation of his tariff regime. It also threatens to cost him credibility with businesses he's counting on to invest in the U.S. and world leaders whose buy-in he needs to negotiate trade deals. Still, few expect a different posture from a famously intransigent president or any second-guessing following the Wednesday ruling from the U.S. Court of International Trade, which briefly halted most of the tariffs. 'I don't think that's going to stop, in any way, the administration. The president's going to try to assert his tariff authority under any avenue possible,' said Marc Short, who served as Trump's legislative affairs director and Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff during the president's first term. 'The president is not one to accept defeat. He certainly didn't in 2020. It's not like because he had a bad court ruling he's going to turn his back on this.' Trump and his top lieutenants see the speed with which he is moving to enact not just trade policy but his entire agenda as a feature, not a bug. Trade adviser Peter Navarro, who has been with Trump since his first term, often refers to the pace as 'Trump time,' and other senior White House staff members frequently chalk up any inconsistency or volatility in the president's policymaking approach to his dealmaking acumen. 'We have to act fast,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon. 'We have to be fast and nimble.' And Trump may be especially keen on refuting the notion that he is weak after the moniker TACO, or 'Trump Always Chickens Out,' caught on among Wall Street traders, said one Trump ally outside the White House, granted anonymity to speak candidly. "I don't think Trump can back down now, mainly because of this TACO theme," the person said. "He's clearly super irritated by it and it's like a challenge to his very manhood now.' European leaders have continued to chafe at the U.S.'s erratic approach to trade, a preview of what Trump might face at the G7 summit next month in Canada as he arrives with a slightly less-firm negotiating position. Still, the president has shown no inkling that he plans to back away from tariffs, which he's often called the 'most beautiful word' in the English language. Inside the West Wing, aides downplayed the legal whiplash as a minor stumbling block rather than a major threat to a trade policy seen as increasingly central to the president's economic legacy. And while they bristled at the TACO-centric talk, there was no expectation that Trump would veer off his maximalist trade push. 'He's been consistent on tariffs and trade since the 1980s,' said a White House official, granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. 'He's not firm on this because somebody made a taco meme and it's going viral.' Administration officials are readying backup plans should the broad set of levies they have placed on U.S. trading partners be again put on hold in court, which trade attorneys and others around the administration expect when an appeals court revisits the matter in June. Among them is a mechanism that would allow it to quickly impose tariffs without congressional approval or a more burdensome evidence-gathering and review process, according to two people familiar with discussions about the administration's trade strategy, granted anonymity to discuss strategy, one of several under consideration, would allow the president to replace existing 10 percent across-the-board tariffs on countries with levies of up to 15 percent, but only for six months. After that, Trump would need Congress' approval to extend them. 'It's important to understand that the president's trade team has been thinking about these legal tools for years, right? We have a lot of folks on TV and the internet who've been thinking about it for about six minutes,' said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during an interview on CNBC Friday morning. 'So, of course, these are things that we've been considering and talking about for a very long time. All these things are on the table.' But so-called Section 122 tariffs — named for the part of the Trade Act that outlines them — have never been tested in court, meaning the administration could find itself stymied once again. In order to move quickly to enact the so-called Liberation Day tariffs, the White House leaned on emergency powers in a federal law known as IEEPA, an approach that a federal court on Wednesday said exceeded his legal authority. 'Whether you move forward under IEEPA or a different authority, the president has made clear that tariffs are a central plank of his economic agenda and he is going to use the leverage the tariffs create to drive better outcomes for the U.S.,' said Everett Eissenstat, who served as deputy director of the National Economic Council and a key trade adviser in Trump's first term. 'Whether this tool is the tool or there's another tool, tariff authority, he's going to move forward.' But even Trump allies fear that those in the White House aren't doing enough to counsel the president on his best options, leaning into his desire to move quickly without presenting him with a full suite of more durable strategies. 'Whether you're for tariffs or not, it's pretty clear the president doesn't have unilateral authority to raise taxes,' said Stephen Moore, an outside economic adviser to Trump who has long been skeptical of the administration's go-it-alone trade approach. "It's pretty clear that at some point Congress is going to have to vote on tariff policy." As advisers mulled strategies to see their way through the thicket of looming legal challenges, Trump sought to demonstrate resolve. After a long social media post on Thursday night blasting the International Court of Trade and a ruling that he said 'would completely destroy Presidential Power,' Trump continued posting on Friday morning with a broadside aimed at Chinese President Xi Jinping. Claiming that his drastic reduction of the 145 percent tariffs against Beijing was a matter of saving China from 'grave economic danger,' Trump asserted that it 'HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US.' Greer attributed the president's frustration to the Chinese 'slow-rolling their compliance' with the agreement hashed out earlier this month. And in perhaps the clearest sign of the president's defensiveness in the face of Wall Street criticism, Trump opened a long, freewheeling Oval Office press conference on Friday afternoon by directing an aide to position an iPad on the Resolute Desk from which he played a clip of CNBC's Rick Santelli — whose 2009 rant gave birth to the Tea Party movement — praising his economic record. As the clip played, Trump raised his eyebrows and nodded at the journalists and aides positioned in front of him. 'Not bad, right?' Trump said when the clip finished playing, as departing adviser Elon Musk implored people in the room to applaud.
Newsweek
3 days ago
- Business
- Newsweek
Mike Pence Accuses Donald Trump of Ignoring Constitution
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Former Vice President Mike Pence has accused President Donald Trump of supplanting Congress' constitutional authority over trade and commerce, following a federal court ruling that sought to void the majority of his tariffs. "The Constitution gives Congress the power to levy taxes and tariffs," Pence wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "Article 1, Section 8 provides that the Congress 'shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises.'" "The president has no authority in the Constitution to unilaterally impose tariffs without an act of Congress," he added. Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment outside regular hours. Why It Matters The potential economic effects of Trump's tariffs, such as high consumer prices on foreign goods and increased overheads for import-reliant businesses, have drawn scrutiny from Democrats and members of the president's own party. Trump has announced numerous tariffs since returning to office in January, including a 10 percent "baseline" tariff on almost all U.S. imports, arguing that the duties were necessary to fix trade imbalances and revive American manufacturing. However, critics have questioned the constitutionality of the president's trade policies, saying tariffs are fundamentally a legislative power granted to Congress and that their unilateral imposition represents an example of executive overreach. What To Know "To restore the power to levy Tariff's back to the American people, Congress should take immediate steps to reclaim their Constitutional authority On Tariffs," Pence wrote on Thursday. The former vice president has made similar arguments in the past. In April, he told attendees at a Grove City College event, "Wherever you come down on the risks or merits associated with tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration, the president has no authority in the Constitution to unilaterally impose tariffs without an act of Congress," the National Review reported. Pence has also criticized the tariffs on economic grounds, arguing that resultant price increases on foreign-made goods—specifically dolls—run counter to the "American dream." Former Vice President Mike Pence at the Jerusalem Post's New York conference on June 3, 2024. Former Vice President Mike Pence at the Jerusalem Post's New York conference on June 3, Pence highlighted on Thursday, Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution establishes the structure and powers of the legislative branch and grants Congress authority over taxes and duties. However, Congress has ceded certain tariff powers to the presidency over the years, primarily through Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962; Sections 122, 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974; Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930; and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977. Wednesday's ruling from the U.S. Court of International Trade concerned Trump's invocation of the latter. The Manhattan federal court argued that neither the fentanyl crisis—which Trump used to justify tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico—nor the unfair trading relationships that his reciprocal tariffs were intended to fix constituted sufficient emergencies to override Congress' constitutional powers. "Because of the Constitution's express allocation of the tariff power to Congress … we do not read IEEPA to delegate an unbounded tariff authority to the President," the three-judge panel wrote in its decision. "We instead read IEEPA's provisions to impose meaningful limits on any such authority it confers." The administration called the decision a "judicial coup" and swiftly filed an appeal with the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, which has now paused the lower court's ruling, allowing the tariffs to remain in effect pending the outcome of the appeal. What People Are Saying President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday: "The horrific decision stated that I would have to get the approval of Congress for these Tariffs. In other words, hundreds of politicians would sit around D.C. for weeks, and even months, trying to come to a conclusion as to what to charge other Countries that are treating us unfairly. If allowed to stand, this would completely destroy Presidential Power—The Presidency would never be the same! … The President of the United States must be allowed to protect America against those that are doing it Economic and Financial harm." Senator John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, told CNN: "Under the Constitution, Congress has tariff authority. We gave—for better or worse, Congress gave some of that authority to the presidency. The president has been exercising that authority. The issue before the courts—and it's appropriate for them to decide—is whether he has exceeded that authority. I don't think he has, but that's up to the courts to tell us. In the meantime, nothing's going to change. These [trade] talks are not going to stop, nor should they." Political economist Veronique de Rugy said in comments shared with Newsweek: "The president's power is limited, even in emergencies. Declaring a trade deficit isn't an emergency; it's economics 101. Trump's tariffs weren't just economically destructive, they were legally baseless. Courts rightly refused to hand over unlimited power to a single person. This ruling drew from conservative judicial doctrines like nondelegation and major questions, these philosophies embraced by Trump's own judicial nominees. The ruling restores constitutional order by reminding everyone, including Trump, that tariff power belongs to Congress, not to the president's whims." What Happens Next The appeals court's decision means Trump's tariffs remain in place while the case is considered. It has ordered the plaintiffs to respond by June 5 and given the government until June 9 to issue a reply. White House adviser Peter Navarro has said the administration is prepared to take the appeal to the Supreme Court if necessary. He told reporters on Thursday, "Even if we lose, we will do it another way."
Wall Street Journal
6 days ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
A Good Republic Is Hard to Keep
Upon exiting the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked, 'Well, doctor, what have we got?' His answer, 'A republic, if you can keep it,' is a challenge to this day. On Jan. 6, 2021, a mob incited by President Donald Trump smashed its way into the U.S. Capitol and threatened to hang Vice President Mike Pence should he not halt certification of an election no credible evidence has ever suggested the president didn't lose. Before the vice president fulfilled his constitutional duty, when he was subject to the president's blandishments to rig the results, a young Marine said to Mr. Pence, 'You took the same oath I did. Anything else is bulls—.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Said Qatar Gifted Him A $400 Million Jet, But Insiders Say The US Initiated The Deal
President Donald Trump's claim that Qatar presented him with a luxury Boeing 747 as a personal "gift" is now being questioned by several insiders familiar with the negotiations. Despite Trump's repeated hints that the offer came unsolicited from Qatar's leadership, CNN sources say it was actually the Trump administration that initiated the discussions. Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — What Happened: According to insiders, the administration began to look for a replacement for Air Force One soon after Trump took office. When Boeing implied that their new aircraft would not be ready until at least 2027, other options came to the forefront, according to CNN. Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was asked to identify potential planes, and Boeing later pointed the Pentagon to clients with appropriate aircraft. Qatar was one of them, and US officials initiated communications to explore a possible lease or purchase. Trump, however, wrote on Truth Social that the plane was "a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE" from Qatar's royal family. He also told Fox News that Qatar's leader presented the plane after hearing about the Air Force One delay, labelling it "a great gesture."Why It Matters: The Boeing-manufactured jet, valued at around $400 million, has been a source of major controversy since the "gift" became public knowledge. Former Vice President Mike Pence urged the President to reject it. Former Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley said "accepting gifts from foreign nations is never a good practice" and "threatens intelligence and national security." Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers labelled it "banana-republic-level corruption" and economist Peter Schiff was also sharply critical of the arrangement. The White House, however, says the deal is being managed as a formal government-to-government transfer, subject to legal and ethical review. Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani stressed that the negotiations are strictly between defense ministries. Aviation experts have warned that it could take years to convert the jet to make it suitable for presidential use, and cost up to $1 billion. Read Next: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — Invest before it's too late. 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. You can invest today for just $0.30/share with a $1000 minimum. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock Send To MSN: Send to MSN Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Trump Said Qatar Gifted Him A $400 Million Jet, But Insiders Say The US Initiated The Deal originally appeared on Sign in to access your portfolio
CNBC
22-05-2025
- General
- CNBC
To stop someone from talking over you—use these 'powerful' phrases, says leadership expert
As a certified leadership and empowerment coach, I've spent the last 15 years working with hundreds of Asian American clients and students from a variety of backgrounds. Even though their experiences were all different, I started seeing the same patterns of struggles. Asian Americans are often seen as nice, polite, smart or even "cute," but rarely as powerful, fearless or decisive. I've known these struggles my whole life. I've tried to fit into the Asian archetype of a hardworking, quiet, self-sacrificing worker, and have caught myself unnecessarily over apologizing to others out of habit. One of the biggest issues I've encountered, including many of my peers of backgrounds, is getting talked over. Here are some powerful responses to use when it happens: I once had a client, a young Asian American woman, who told me her co-worker (an older white man) would ask her a question, and then cut her off she was answering his question! We teach people how to treat us based on what we will and won't accept. When we let people talk over us, we're teaching them we it's okay for them to do it, even if we're just demurring out of politeness. I call these offenders "power thieves" — people who repeatedly talk over you, subtly demean you, or invalidate your opinions in public. But power can't be taken, it can only be given away by you. And if you make it clear you're not going to give it up, the other person will generally back down and look for someone else to take it from. Let's say someone is trying to talk over you in a meeting. The quickest thing to do in those moments is to call it out. Just say, "Hey [their name], I'm not done yet. I'll come back to you in a second." People instinctively pause when they hear their names, and it calls the whole group's attention to their actions. I also add the "I'll come back to you" or "I'll let you know when I'm done" part because it asserts you're the one to decide when you are done, not them. In some situations, if someone has a habit of interrupting, you can just continue talking, as if you don't hear them. If they're particularly egregious, keep saying over them, "I'm still speaking," "I'm not done," or "if I may continue" in a calm, neutral tone until they get the point. Then say, "As I was saying before the interruption," and finish your thought. If you want to see this done like a pro, look up the video of Kamala Harris's interaction with Mike Pence cutting her off during the 2020 Vice Presidential debate. This might be uncomfortable to do at first, but you will get used to it quickly. If you're on a Zoom call, you can even turn down the volume on your speakers, so you're not as bothered by the offender's voice. Once you're done, turn back to the person who was interrupting and ask, "Okay [their name], did you have something you wanted to say?" This lets them know you're finished, but from an empowered place. If this happens too many times, I recommend addressing things in private: "I'm sure you didn't mean to interrupt, but when you did, it felt like you didn't want to hear what I was saying. I would appreciate it if you stopped interrupting." If they are really persistent, be more direct by saying in a firm but calm voice, "Hey [their name], this is the third time you've interrupted. Please stop." Then pause for a few seconds before going back to what you were saying. If they get defensive and try to argue, you can repeat, "Just stop," or hold up a finger until the point is clear. Once they give up, say, "As I was saying before the interruption," and continue. If you find there are people who do this frequently with others, call it out. Let's say you see the interrupter cut off another co-worker. Do the same thing as above and say, "Hey [interrupter name], I believe [name of the person who was interrupted] was still speaking when you jumped in, and I'd really like to hear what they have to say." If you see someone making a suggestion, only to have a power thief make the exact same suggestion a few moments later and claim credit, you should point this out by saying, "That's a great idea. In fact, that's what [other person's name] was trying to suggest before." Or if they claim credit to your idea, you can say, "Yes, thanks [their name] for reiterating my point from earlier." Stopping power thieves is something we can watch for not only for ourselves, but for everyone else. You don't need permission from the person who's being interrupted, because it's not just about them. You're stopping behavior that devalues the quality of the entire meeting, which affects everyone, including you. Of course, not everyone who interrupts others is intentionally trying to take their power. Sometimes people interrupt because they're just too excited or eager to share, and so they can't help themselves. You can choose to be more compassionate by softening your tone, but you still can assert your needs and expectations clearly. ,
