Ad-hoc Trump fuels White House meltdown
and preempted the administration’s own determination about whether the step was lawful.
The tariffs are an extension of Trump’s decades- long crusade against America’s terms of trade, but infuriated allies in Canada, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Internal blowback
The internal blowback was swift, with renewed rumors that top economic advisor Gary Cohn -- who had been infuriated by Trump’s unwillingness to condemn neo- Nazis -- was ready to walk.
Wall Street insiders -- who have embraced Trump’s tax cuts and laissez faire approach to regulation -- expressed disbelief at the policy, but also disbelief at a White House that appears to have careened off the rails.
Trump’s tweets came only hours after he blindsided Republicans by advocating raising age limits for gun ownership, tightening background checks and seizing some weapons without due process.
Republicans have shown themselves to be strikingly tolerant of Trump’s rhetorical and even alleged moral transgressions, but that gun heterodoxy was a step too far for most.
“Strong leaders don’t automatically agree with the last thing that was said to them,” snapped Republican Senator Ben Sasse. “We have the Second Amend- ment and due process of law for a reason.”
Even Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, who has marched in lock-step with the White House,