Latest news with #Trump-inflicted
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Spooked By Trade Wars, Trump Officials Hoard Supplies: ‘It Would Be Stupid Not To!'
Donald Trump's trade wars with China and other nations are widely expected to cause sharp economic pain, but some experts have warned consumers not to hoard supplies and goods before prices skyrocket, arguing that mass stockpiling could backfire spectacularly. Well, many Americans aren't listening to that advice, according to survey data this year, instead preparing for the possibility of store shelves being bare amid a Trump-inflicted recession. Funnily enough, this includes a number of government officials and staffers working directly for the man who launched these massive new trade wars, all on the grounds of bad tariff math and the flimsy premise that he would bring economic 'liberation' to America and make the country 'wealthy again.' Two Trump administration officials and a Trump aide tell Rolling Stone that they have done some stockpiling of their own in recent weeks or months, and that they know others working in Republican politics — inside and outside of the administration — who are doing the same. One of the Trump officials says they have already run to Target to bulk-buy toilet paper, some types of food, and other household supplies. When asked why they're doing this, the Trump aide — who says they and their partner have done similar household-supply hoarding lately, and are also 'stashing cash' reserves in their D.C.-area home — simply replies: 'Because it would be stupid not to!' The aide adds that they still believe in Trump's tariffs regime, though, citing the supposed advantage of 'short-term pain' in exchange for long-term 'prosperity.' The trend is symptomatic of a larger panic taking place within the Trump-dominated Republican elite. A significant share of the GOP luminaries on Capitol Hill, members of the Republican donor class, and some top-ranking officials in the Trump administration are privately (and sometimes publicly) extremely fearful that Trump's trade warfare is going to throttle the U.S. economy and further drive down his and the party's approval ratings ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. But because Trump commands a towering personality cult among the Republican base and rules over his party with catty malice, these GOP bigwigs mostly have to just go along with it and smile. They'll tell the American people one thing (Trump's got this, they'll claim), and behave privately another way (hoarding toilet tissue for themselves, and occasionally trying to talk the president off his Peter Navarro-shaped ledge). In the corridors of power within Trump's own administration, there is a growing belief that the Chinese government indeed has the upper hand in this stage of the trade standoff, and that Trump is strategically flailing and looking for easy wins that don't actually exist, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter attest. Many in the GOP's upper echelons are keeping their fingers crossed that the president will find some outs and declare imaginary victory before his economic war inflicts too much damage on the average American voter. Nobody — not even Trump, it seems — knows how long this is going to last. The American public has been trying to tell the president that they won't put up with it for very long. 'U.S. consumer confidence plummets to Covid-era low as trade war stokes anxiety,' the Associated Press reported on Tuesday, referencing the last time Trump was in office overseeing a crisis that also involved numerous Americans hoarding toilet paper, amid a supply chain crisis. (A similar supply shock is on its way.) In recent days, multiple high-quality polls have separately shown the president's approval rating sinking, in some data to the thirties. The poor numbers have infuriated Trump enough for him to call for criminal investigations of pollsters. He has reason to be upset. Widespread dissatisfaction with the American economy is a primary reason Trump won, and why the last president had his legacy ripped apart. As CNN reported on Monday: 'A 59 percent majority of the public now says President Donald Trump's policies have worsened economic conditions in the country, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, up from 51 percent in March and on par with the worst numbers Joe Biden saw during his presidency.' On Tuesday, after it was first reported by Punchbowl News that Amazon planned to 'display how much of an item's cost is derived from tariffs — right next to the product's total listed price,' the Trump White House slammed it as a 'hostile' act, and a reportedly 'pissed' Trump quickly got Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on the phone. The president later claimed, 'Bezos was very nice' and 'solved the problem very quickly. Good guy.' By Wednesday morning, when news broke that the American economy had shrank and, per The Wall Street Journal, that 'the 0.3 percent decline in GDP fell short of the 0.4 percent growth that economists surveyed' predicted, the president did the only thing he could think to do: He took to the internet to try to pin the blame for the mess he's made on former President Joe Biden. 'We will get back to the GDP, etc., moving forward, and we remain convinced and confident this president knows exactly what he is doing. He is the ultimate dealmaker,' Trump's Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins insisted to a Fox News host, who really did not sound like he was buying what she was selling. Rollins' appeal to good vibes aside, as indicators have worsened by the week, some close Trump allies and conservative-economics stalwarts aren't bothering to dissuade the American people — and Trump officials, evidently — from hoarding certain goods and products. In fact, some are openly saying it's a perfectly rational response to the Trump administration's tariff salvos. 'We had a pretty good consumer spending report a few days ago and the hunch is that people are buying in advance of the tariffs; that sounds plausible,' says Stephen Moore, a conservative writer and Project 2025 contributor who has advised Trump on economic matters for years. 'That's just logical consumer behavior,' he adds. 'The tariffs in the short term will probably bump prices up, [so] it might make sense to buy in advance of that. This is like a tax increase; basically, you buy before the tax increase takes effect … But the problem is that now it is getting too late to buy in advance because tariffs are already having an effect. Consumers are gonna change their behavior based on these things, if it's something that's imported. If Trump starts to get a few of these deals done, then it'll alleviate some of that pressure, but I don't know where they are on that right now.' Moore is just one example of a long-established figure in the national GOP ecosystem and right-wing media who continues to counsel and support Trump, despite his and other conservative diehards' misgivings about the tariffs. For years, the president, unlike more traditional Republicans, has viewed massive tariffs as a net-positive for the country and as his perfect negotiating tool in high-stakes international trade standoffs. He also believes he can impose his tariff blitzes unilaterally as president, a legally dubious claim that is currently working its way through the courts. 'When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win,' Trump tweeted in 2018, when he was president the first time and toying with trade warfare on a smaller scale than now. 'When we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don't trade anymore — we win big. It's easy!' Senior officials from Trump's first administration are about as convinced by that argument today as they were when they worked for him. 'If we continue down this path, I think it's going to be pretty bleak for the economy,' says Marc Short, who once served as Trump's White House legislative affairs director and as a top aide to Mike Pence. 'There's likely going to be significant job losses and potential supply problems in your stores. I do think the president is very adept at claiming victory and reversing his policies, so there's a question about how long this actually goes. But if you look at the data on trucking and shipping right now, I think by the end of May you're going to see more shortages and supply disruptions.' Short continues: 'On Tuesday morning, there was data that showed how the monthly trade deficit ballooned to one of the highest levels ever, and the tariffs in theory were about fixing that deficit. But it's only gotten worse. I think this could mean a lot of Americans — not just White House staff — are out there ordering supplies ahead of what they expect to be a rougher period. Thankfully we live in a relatively free economy that's dynamic, but in the past we [in the Republican Party] have criticized central planners on the left. But I think there are currently central planners in this White House who think they can control what Americans buy and sell through their trade policies.' He concludes: 'I don't think it works.' More from Rolling Stone Kamala Harris Slams Trump's 'Narrow, Self-Serving Vision of America' in Gala Speech Trump Goes Full Grinch as Tariffs Threaten to Ruin Christmas Sheryl Crow Says an Armed Man Got on Her Property After She Ditched Her Tesla Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WA leaders fear Trump tariffs will 'significantly' hurt local economies
The Brief President Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff on imports, with higher rates for major trading partners, aiming to boost the U.S. economy but raising trade war concerns. Washington state leaders warned the tariffs could harm the economy, increasing costs and impacting trade-dependent jobs and industries. Tariffs include significant rates for China, the EU, Japan, and India, plus a 25% tariff on foreign cars, despite local fears of economic disruption. SEATTLE - President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday, announcing sweeping tariffs. The president said there would be a baseline tariff of 10% for every country that imports products into the U.S. During his announcement, he also outlined that the nation's largest trading partners will see a higher percentage, in what he called reciprocal tariffs. "It's our declaration of economic independence. For years, hardworking American citizens were forced to sit on the sidelines as other nations got rich and powerful, much of it at our expense. But now it's our turn to prosper," Trump said during a press conference at the Rose Garden. Big picture view The tariffs disrupt trading arrangements that have been in place since 1947. Murmurs of a looming trade war began as Trump returned to office, and now experts say the time has arrived. While President Trump said the tariffs will restore the nation's economy, Washington state leaders said they believe it will hurt American citizens. What they're saying "Perhaps no state stands to lose more from Trump-inflicted price increases and a trade war than ours. The inevitable retaliation will hurt growers across our state, drive up the costs of houses, cars, and everyday goods, and jeopardize our state's economy," said U.S. Senator Patty Murray. "It's a tax on the American people, and Congress should have a vote on that," said U.S. Representative Susan DelBene, representing Washington state's first district. "The uncertainty has already had a great impact on our economy, and these tariffs and ongoing retaliation will hurt our small businesses, our farmers, our families with increased costs." DelBene said the tariffs will especially impact Washington, as two in five jobs are tied to trade, and the state does significant commerce with Canada and the Pacific. "The uncertainty has already had a great impact on our economy, and these tariffs and ongoing retaliation will hurt our small businesses, our farmers, our families with increased costs," said DelBene. The president said the reciprocal tariffs will amount to about half of what other countries charge America. China will see a 34% tariff, the European Union 20%, Japan 24%, and India 26%. There will also be a 25% tariff on all foreign automobiles. Local perspective Though the president said the executive order will restore the economy and support jobs, state leaders said they fear a trade war won't be the only issue for the economy. "A local manufacturer said he's afraid of being tariffed out of business. Farmers are already paying higher prices for fertilizer and having market trouble accessing markets. Aerospace manufacturers in Washington are paying much more for steel and aluminum, and the President has no clear goals in this trade war," said DelBene. Additional details of the tariffs and Trump's plan weren't discussed during his announcement. The president just continued stating there have been years of complaints from companies and workers throughout the U.S. that are negatively impacted by global trade. The president said there is no charge if a country wants to manufacture in the U.S. Trump said Apple announced a $500 billion commitment to spend and invest in the U.S. over the next four years. He also said within the next two days another big company will be announcing a large plan to build in America. The Source Information in this story comes from original reporting from FOX 13 Seattle reporter Franque Thompson. Richard Sherman's WA home robbed by armed men, deputies confirm Mystery over Seattle sky: Black ring leaves public guessing Woodland Park Zoo handler recovering after serious orangutan bite Police investigate after 100 shots fired in West Seattle Man stabbed to death in Marysville, WA To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter. Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national coverage, plus 24/7 streaming coverage from across the nation.
