Latest news with #TrumpTariffTax
USA Today
05-04-2025
- Business
- USA Today
'Probably unconstitutional': Trump's world trade war spotlights conservative fault lines
'Probably unconstitutional': Trump's world trade war spotlights conservative fault lines Show Caption Hide Caption Sneaker prices likely to surge following global tariffs The impact of Trump's tariffs may mean higher sneaker prices. President Donald Trump has hailed his sweeping tariffs on all U.S. trading partners and imports as a "declaration of economic independence" that has largely been cheered by his populist base as another example of his "America First" priorities. But a backlash appears to be brewing on the political right as a handful of Republicans in Congress, former Trump administration officials, conservative activists and other prominent supporters are expressing doubt about this move as anxieties about higher consumer prices rise. "President Trump declared that it was in fact 'liberation day' his giant tariff policy that he just dropped on the market unilaterally, probably unconstitutionally," Ben Shapiro, founder of the Daily Wire, said on his program this week. "There are real-world implications for this sort of stuff," he added. "Trade wars are in fact not good, and not easy to, particularly if you don't have a plan." Americans also appeared to have soured on this idea even as the administration promises long-term gains. Trump saw his approval rating dip to 43%, the lowest since his return to office, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released after the April 1 announcement. Fifty-two percent of respondents said putting tariffs on vehicles will have a negative impact, including 53% of independents. And after riding a wave of anxiety about risings costs back into the White House, the survey shows 57% of Americans think Trump's moves to shake up the economy are "too erratic" with 59% of independent voters agreeing with that statement. "The Trump Tariff Tax is the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history," Republican Mike Pence, who served as Trump's vice president during his first term, said in an April 2 post on X. "These Tariffs are nearly 10x the size of those imposed during the Trump-Pence Administration and will cost American families over $3,500 per year." Conservatives like Thomas Sowell and Rand Paul are in opposition to tariff plan Whether in Congress or think tanks, fiscal hawks aren't shying away from sharing their wariness in Trump's dramatic shift in U.S. trade policy, which includes a 10% baseline tariff on goods from all countries. The Cato Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank, have mocked the administration for slapping tariffs on islands inhabited only by penguins, while echoing Pence and other conservatives. "On the serious side: This isn't trade strategy," the group said on X. "It's a massive tax on US consumers." Thomas Sowell, a well-known economist often cited by GOP officeholders, called the administration's decision "disturbing" adding it runs the risks a significant downturn. "It's painful to see what a ruinous decision from back in the 1920s being repeated," he said. On Capitol Hill, where there could be legislative consequences, the most noticeable GOP opposition is coming from the Senate side. Longtime Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has introduced a bipartisan bill that would require the president to notify Congress within 48 hours if the administration imposed a tariff. That proposal has attracted other Senate Republicans who have flirted with the idea of support it, such as Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, who faces reelection in 2026. Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski vote to end some of the tariffs on Canada Then there are retiring lawmakers, like former Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who hasn't shied away from expressing his disagreements with Trump nominees and moderates such as Sen. Susan Collins, of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, who all voted to end some of the tariffs on Canada this past week. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has arguably been the most outspoken, but others such as Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, and Sen. John Kennedy, of Louisiana, have sprinkled cold water on the strategy, too. "We do not know yet the impact of these (tariffs)," Kennedy said Friday in an interview with Fox News. "We just don't know and anybody who tells you otherwise that says they know has been smoking the devil's lettuce. I'm not going to bubble-wrap it." 'Breaking the globalist order': Most Republicans stick with Trump on tariffs, poll finds Things look much better for Trump on the House side where almost no members have come out against the plan save for Rep. Don Bacon, of Nebraska, who reportedly plans to draft a companion bill to the bipartisan Grassley proposal. Most other GOP members have rushed to say they believe Trump's plan puts U.S. interests first as he promised to do during the campaign. That is where a majority of Republicans stand, according to polling. On the question of a negative impact on automobiles, for example, the Reuters/Ipsos survey finds 47% of GOP disagree that it will hurt people versus 30% who agree. The remaining 23% did not answer. Similarly, 25% of Republicans think Trump is being "too erratic" with the economy while 63% think he isn't and just 11% who didn't answer. "Trump is breaking the globalist order. Hold," Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, said Friday on X. "The BEST is yet to come!"
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mike Pence to get JFK Profile in Courage Award for certification of 2020 election
Former Vice President Mike Pence will be given the 2025 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for certifying the 2020 election results after rioters rampaged through the U.S. Capitol, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation revealed on Thursday. Then-vice president to President Donald Trump during his first term, Pence certified former President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election despite Trump pressuring him to toss out the results during the certification on January 6, 2021 as Trump supporters laid siege to the Capitol. The daughter of President Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, and her son, Jack Schlossberg, said in a statement announcing the foundation's decision that Pence's actions were 'an example of President Kennedy's belief that an act of political courage can change the course of history.' Pence is set to receive the award from Kennedy and Schlossberg at the Kennedy Library in Boston on May 4. 'Despite our political differences, it is hard to imagine an act of greater consequence than Vice President Pence's decision to certify the 2020 presidential election during an attack on the U.S. Capitol,' said mother and son. 'Upholding his oath to the Constitution and following his conscience, the Vice President put his life, career, and political future on the line.' Rioters that day chanted: 'Hang Mike Pence,' and a noose hung from a makeshift scaffold outside the Capitol. In the press release, Pence said he was 'deeply humbled and honored.' 'I have been inspired by the life and words of President John F. Kennedy since my youth and am honored to join the company of so many distinguished Americans who have received this recognition in the past,' he added. The Kennedys also said in the statement that 'political courage is not outdated in the United States.' 'At every level of government, leaders are putting country first, and not backing down,' they added. The Kennedys said Pence's 'decision is an example of President Kennedy's belief that an act of political courage can change the course of history.' The award comes as Pence's former boss works to bend academic institutions and foreign governments to his will through tariffs and withdrawals of government funding, in addition to other measures. Pence slammed Trump's tariffs in a post on X on Wednesday, writing: 'The Trump Tariff Tax is the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history. These Tariffs are nearly 10x the size of those imposed during the Trump-Pence Administration and will cost American families over $3,500 per year.' The Kennedy Profile in Courage award has been presented each year since 1989 to 'public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences.' In 2024, the award was given to the Republican Secretary of State of Kentucky, Michael Adams, for 'expanding voting rights and standing up for free and fair elections despite party opposition.' Pence has faced ostracism by Trump and the rest of the Republican Party after refusing to adhere to Trump's demands to toss out the 2020 election, which Trump lost.
The Independent
04-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Mike Pence to get JFK Profile in Courage Award for certification of 2020 election
Former Vice President Mike Pence will be given the 2025 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for certifying the 2020 election results after rioters rampaged through the U.S. Capitol, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation revealed on Thursday. Then-vice president to President Donald Trump during his first term, Pence certified former President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election despite Trump pressuring him to toss out the results during the certification on January 6, 2021 as Trump supporters laid siege to the Capitol. The daughter of President Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, and her son, Jack Schlossberg, said in a statement announcing the foundation's decision that Pence's actions were 'an example of President Kennedy's belief that an act of political courage can change the course of history.' Pence is set to receive the award from Kennedy and Schlossberg at the Kennedy Library in Boston on May 4. 'Despite our political differences, it is hard to imagine an act of greater consequence than Vice President Pence's decision to certify the 2020 presidential election during an attack on the U.S. Capitol,' said mother and son. 'Upholding his oath to the Constitution and following his conscience, the Vice President put his life, career, and political future on the line.' Rioters that day chanted: 'Hang Mike Pence,' and a noose hung from a makeshift scaffold outside the Capitol. In the press release, Pence said he was 'deeply humbled and honored.' 'I have been inspired by the life and words of President John F. Kennedy since my youth and am honored to join the company of so many distinguished Americans who have received this recognition in the past,' he added. The Kennedys also said in the statement that 'political courage is not outdated in the United States.' 'At every level of government, leaders are putting country first, and not backing down,' they added. The Kennedys said Pence's 'decision is an example of President Kennedy's belief that an act of political courage can change the course of history.' The award comes as Pence's former boss works to bend academic institutions and foreign governments to his will through tariffs and withdrawals of government funding, in addition to other measures. Pence slammed Trump's tariffs in a post on X on Wednesday, writing: 'The Trump Tariff Tax is the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history. These Tariffs are nearly 10x the size of those imposed during the Trump-Pence Administration and will cost American families over $3,500 per year.' The Kennedy Profile in Courage award has been presented each year since 1989 to 'public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences.' In 2024, the award was given to the Republican Secretary of State of Kentucky, Michael Adams, for 'expanding voting rights and standing up for free and fair elections despite party opposition.' Pence has faced ostracism by Trump and the rest of the Republican Party after refusing to adhere to Trump's demands to toss out the 2020 election, which Trump lost.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pence on Trump tariffs: ‘Largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history'
Former Vice President Mike Pence warned about the economic and political risks of the Trump administration's sweeping reciprocal tariffs on other nations, calling them the 'largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history.' Pence, who served alongside President Trump during his first term, posted on the social platform X following Wednesday's announcement that the tariffs 'are nearly 10x the size of those imposed during the Trump-Pence Administration and will cost American families over $3,500 per year.' The former vice president cited data from his advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, which made the case that tariffs and uncertainty around the economy contribute to layoffs. Pence's advocacy group also noted that a recent YouGov/Yahoo poll found Trump's approval rating on the economy was just 39 percent. 'American families are still reeling from 20% Bidenflation. An equally large Trump Tariff Tax will hurt families and make them look elsewhere come the next election,' Advancing American Freedom stated in a memo on the tariffs. Trump's announcement on Wednesday of severe tariffs against more than 100 countries has spurred fears of a global trade war and sent financial markets plummeting. Pence, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, has broken with Trump on matters of foreign policy and tariffs while supporting the president's agenda in other areas. The former vice president is one of just a handful of prominent Republicans who have publicly criticized Trump's aggressive use of tariffs and argued they are a departure from his more targeted use of the policy during his first term. Most in the party have backed Trump's approach and argued any short-term economic pain will be worth it. Senators introduced bipartisan legislation on Thursday to grant Congress more power over instituting tariffs on other countries. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
03-04-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Pence on Trump tariffs: ‘Largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history'
Former Vice President Pence warned about the economic and political risks of the Trump administration's sweeping reciprocal tariffs on other nations, calling them the 'largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history.' Pence, who served alongside Trump during his first term, posted on the social platform X following Wednesday's announcement that the tariffs 'are nearly 10x the size of those imposed during the Trump-Pence Administration and will cost American families over $3,500 per year.' The former vice president cited data from his advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, which made the case that tariffs and uncertainty around the economy contribute to layoffs. Pence's advocacy group also noted that a recent YouGov/Yahoo poll found Trump's approval rating on the economy was just 39 percent. 'American families are still reeling from 20% Bidenflation. An equally large Trump Tariff Tax will hurt families and make them look elsewhere come the next election,' Advancing American Freedom stated in a memo on the tariffs. Trump's announcement on Wednesday of severe tariffs against more than 100 countries has spurred fears of a global trade war and sent financial markets plummeting. Pence, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, has broken with Trump on matters of foreign policy and tariffs while supporting the president's agenda in other areas. The former vice president is one of just a handful of prominent Republicans who have publicly criticized Trump's aggressive use of tariffs and argued they are a departure from his more targeted use of the policy during his first term. Most in the party have backed Trump's approach and argued any short-term economic pain will be worth it.
