US owners react to new prices
American business owners feel uncertain because the prices have gone around the world.
President Donald Trump described the American economy as a sick patient who needs some “medicine,” And he prescribed price like the remedy.
Now, the Republicans are increasingly nervous than they may be forced to take their medication in the 2026 mid-term elections If the price of President Gambit vocolizing the voters and Trump fights with a democratic majority in the congress for his last two years in the White House.
“Who can I suffocate if it turns out to be false?” North Caroline Senator Thom Tillis, one of the most vulnerable GOP holders in next year elections, asked for an audience on Capitol Hill.
He is not alone. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, warned against a political “bloodbath” for the Republicans if a trade war Tanques the American economy. Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., Reminded his colleagues how the prices “decimated” the GOP and left them without political power in the previous century for six decades.
There is no dispute that Trump Target scanning prices on goods from many foreign countries have shocked the economy – the dominant problem in any electionand the one who Helped Usher The Republican President return After Four years in the political desert.
Faced with the rise in political return which shows how explosive the question is, Trump on April 9 interrupted The most serious prices for each country except China. Where he then goes to trade is uncertain. The issues are high and Trump is intimately familiar with the way the economy can decide on the fate of political parties and their leaders.
“People were jumping out of the line,” Trump told journalists at the White House by explaining his reasons for the price break. “They became a little Yippy, a little afraid. ”
Blame biden
During his campaign in 2024, Trump hammered strong inflation under President Joe Biden And promised A new golden age for the American economy. It worked. THE Biden economy – Despite a solid job and a fleeing stock market – It turned out that the disintegration for many voters continued to criticize him for months after taking office.
But even the Republicans are now adage Trump has the economy – for better or for worse – by injecting so much uncertainty. The president’s prices represent one of the greatest economic disruption undertaken by any managing director, and republican leaders will have to respond to what comes as a worried constituents. Increase in daily goods and stomach on economic turbulence seen in recent days with The stock market.
“Fortunately, we are also far from extracting it,” said former press secretary of the White House Trump, Sean Spicer
After Trump announced his prices in early April, The markets fellbusiness leaders issued disastrous warnings And Economists predicted increase in upcoming prices. Trump’s own assistants were deeply divided, to quarrel in public While the trade war was intensified, China and the European Union imposing Major reprisals.
During the fundraising dinner on April 8 for the Gop house in Washington, Trump projected confidence.
“We are going to win the mid-term elections and we will have a great and thunderous landslide, I really believe that … and I really think that we are very helped by the tariff situation that is happening”, the president said During the dinner of the National Republican Congress Committee.
However, after days to dig, Trump less than 24 hours later had yielded and announcement A reciprocal rate of 10% – lower than many countries had to face – for everyone except China for 90 days. The decline came after economic experts have warned more and more On a recessionAnd GOP legislators spent days publicly worrying about how it could harm politically.
“If we are not on the right track by February (2026), there will be serious political consequences,” Tillis told journalists.
On April 9, the GOP legislator said they were signing for help as stocks and their main clues climb the news of the price break.
“The market likes this, the stock market likes this, I love it,” said Paul.
Nervous gop
The Republicans are reluctant to make Trump curl after years to see him attack the GOP dissidents and drive them out of power through retirement Or support the main challenges. Its hold on the party is considerable.
However, there are many signs of discomfort in the republican ranks of prices. Although a mass defection seems unlikely, some legislators – including Trump Allies – are starting to express themselves with caution.
Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sponsored legislation Limit Trump’s pricing powers. Grassley is an ardent supporter of Trump, but the prices could have a great impact on the farmers of Iowa who send grains abroad.
Six other Republicans have signed the bill, including other agricultural state legislators and senators in vulnerable districts which are to be re -section in 2026, such as Tillis and Susan Collins of Maine.
Tillis declared during an audience of the Senate finance committee that the American commercial representative Jamieson Greer that it was skeptical of “starting” a trade war on all fronts “will succeed.
The Democratic adversary of Tillis has published a video On social networks, hitting the republican senator on prices.
The former interior secretary of Trump, Montana representative Ryan Zinke, told USA Today that his voters understand that unfair commercial practices should be reviewed and that it is important to bring more manufacturing to the United States, which, according to him, said that “directed” prices could accomplish.
“What I hope is that they are in the short term and they are useful,” he said. “I think that everything that is in the long term that harms the economy will affect (mid-term republicans), simply because people vote with their wallets.”
Cruz, who is closely aligned with Trump and its Maga movement, said the prices should be used to negotiate transactions and not become a long -term economic tool. A trade war would harm the American economy and have major political consequences, he said.
The result of the pricing battle “will probably be the greatest determinant of what the mid-term elections of 2026” Cruz look like said on his podcast.
“If we go to a recession, in particular a bad recession, 2026, in all likelihood, would be politically a bloodbath,” said Cruz. “You would face a Democratic house and you could even face a Democratic Senate.”
Paul, a libertarian Kentucky republican who is deeply opposed to the prices, underlined a history lesson a century ago – the Smoot -Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 – to ring the alarm on the potential political benefits of Trump’s actions. Paul blame Smoot-Hawley for having inaugurated decades of democratic domination at the Congress.
“They were decimated for 60 years. The Republicans have not controlled the room and the Senate for 60 years,” said Paul.
Even legislators who are not ready to be re -elected are starting to sweat – and warn the potential political consequences – as Expectations for a recession increase.
Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wis., An ardent ally of Trump, told Greer that the Republicans recognize that the trade partners of the United States had “benefited from us”.
“But you also hear that our voters are counting on trade, and they will be injured,” he said. After the hearing, he said that he was not reassured by Greer’s testimony.
Questioned later if he has the impression of understanding the Trump administration plan, Johnson told journalists: “Does anyone?”
“Immense” political damage
In recent days, comments show that the Republicans are already considering the mid-term elections of 2026, which are at 20 months, with concern.
“The Republican Party is in charge,” said GOP consultant Alex Conant. “If the economy is recession, the Republican Party will be blamed. They recognize if Trump breaks the economy he has it, and they are very concerned about the potential impact of prices.”
Democrats are ready to jump. Washington representative Suzan Delbene, who heads the campaign operations of his party’s house, said that Trump’s pricing policy will be part of the Democrats’ campaign messaging as they aim to take over the Chamber in 2026.
“They promised the voters that they were going to focus on falling costs, to focus on cooking table problems, and they broke this promise,” Delbene told USA Today. “We will continue to hold the republicans responsible for the damage they make to American families and our economy.”
Republicans have a favorable Senate card in 2026, and it is unlikely that they will lose control of this room, said Larry Sabato, professor of political science and director of the Center for Politics of the University of Virginia. But the Democrats are slightly privileged to win the Chamber, according to the handicap produced by its team from the non -partisan crystal ball of Sabato, and an economic slowdown would increase their chances.
“The more this chaos continues of time, the more likely it is that the Democrats not only win the room, but to win it by a decent margin,” said Sabato.
How long Trump must show progress in his tariff negotiations is an open question. Sabato said he was thinking that voters’ opinions on Trump’s economic bet is starting to harden during the summer. Conant argued that the GOP will benefit if Trump succeeds, but warned that the alternative could shake the party.
“Political damage will be immense,” he said.
For his part, Trump told journalists by announcing the price break that “nothing is finished” on his major thrust to reorganize American trade policy. Aware of the policy behind his push, the president of the second mandate also clearly indicated that he was looking at the financial markets and boasted of the way they reacted to his last move.
While the markets seemed “quite dark” in recent days, Trump celebrated the leap in shares on April 9.
“This is a fairly important change, and I think the word would be” flexible “,” he said. “You must be flexible.”