Republicans fume as Trump blindsides them with tariff pause
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President Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office on April 9. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Many Republicans in Congress were shell shocked Wednesday when President Trump abruptly announced that he was pausing his sweeping reciprocal tariffs for every country except China.
Why it matters: For some GOP lawmakers, the lack of notice from the administration was part of a disturbing pattern that has left them struggling to display the kind of loyalty the president demands of his party.
- "If they would just communicate with us more on messaging, we would be able to support the president better," said one House Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity to criticize the White House.
- The lawmaker said that, had Trump alerted members about his plans, "it would have given us a lot more ammo … to go against the Democrats."
- A second House Republican griped that they "found out from the press," concurring that Trump hurts his loyalists in Congress by not giving them more visibility into his plans.
What happened: Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that he was scaling tariffs on China up to 125% while reducing them to 10% for every other country.
- The announcement came after many Republican lawmakers leapt to defend the president's policy despite many also having misgivings — particularly about the negative stock market reaction.
- Despite fuming at the White House over their lack of communications, some GOP free traders also met the announcement with a sigh of relief.
State of play: The Ways & Means Committee was in the middle of questioning U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at a public hearing when Trump made his announcement.
- Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), noting that he questioned Greer shortly before the president's announcement, quipped: "Was it me that saved the stock market?"
- "It would have been very helpful to members of the committee to have that information," said the first GOP lawmaker who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Zoom out: Gripes from members of Congress — particularly House members — about not getting enough information from the administration are a tale as old as Washington itself. Former President Biden had his own issues on that front.
- But this is not the first time the issue has arisen for the second Trump White House after a few months in office.
- Lawmakers have also complained about not getting more of a heads up on inflammatory actions by DOGE, according to non-profit news outlet NOTUS.
- The White House didn't respond to a request for comment.
Even senior House Republicans on key committees told Axios they got no advanced notice about the pause.
- House Appropriations Committee chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.), asked hours after the announcement whether it came as a surprise, said, "I don't know anything about it."
Yes, but: Other House Republicans, while conceding they got no advance warning, defended the president and argued it's fair for him not to share his plans
- Several cited the risk of leaks. "Unfortunately when you do release it to members of Congress, then they release it to members of the public." said Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.).
- Said Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.): "I understand why some people might be frustrated, but … I think people understand that the president is going to negotiate in a time-sensitive manner. That isn't going to always mean checking in with each other."
- A third Republican who spoke on the condition of anonymity cited the possibility that their colleagues may have used the information to make stock trades.
