You don’t need to venture far from the Oval Office to find critics of President Donald Trump’s chaotic economic agenda. Many of the people put off by Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs are roaming the halls of the White House.
That’s the news from the Wall Street Journal, who spoke with insiders in Trump’s White House and found that the volatile stock market and tariff-induced uncertainty have rattled senior officials like Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. The tension has mounted as Trump underlings handle concerned calls from donors and business leaders about planned tariffs on Canada, Mexico and other prominent U.S. trade partners.
Anonymous sources who spoke with the Journal said the executive branch’s National Economic Council has tried to nudge Trump off his current path to no avail. In spite of the concerning news coming from inside the White House, officials are claiming the admin is of one mind.
“Every member of the Trump administration is playing from the same playbook—President Trump’s playbook—to enact an America First agenda of tariffs, tax cuts, deregulation, and the unleashing of American energy,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told the Journal.
The stock market slumps stemming from uncertainty around Trump tariffs have disrupted the lock-step of MAGA diehards on Capitol Hill. Republican legislators have begun speaking out about Trump’s economic agenda, worrying that the confusion around trade could cause pain without a point.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told the Journal that he was “very frustrated” by the wishy-washy approach to duties by Trump.
“We don’t know what this is gonna look like tomorrow,” he told the outlet.
The typically conservative Wall Street Journal has been a vocal critic of Trump’s planned tariffs. The editorial board of the paper called Trump’s idea “the dumbest trade war in history” in a fiery op-ed. Trump responded that the Journal was “always wrong” and promised the U.S. was “not going to be the ‘Stupid Country’ any longer.”
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