'I Don't Know What The Endgame Is Here': Ron Johnson Discusses Trump's Tariffs After Pause

2 days ago

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) spoke with reporters on Wednesday about President Trump's tariffs and the 90-day pause.

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00:00...do us a great deal of harm.

00:01Senator, what do you think about just the way this has gone back and forth and now with the pause?

00:07Well, again, I don't know, I still don't know exactly what his total strategy is.

00:13We know what his goal was.

00:14I mean, to a certain extent, he wants reciprocity.

00:17A lot of nations have come to the negotiating table that don't want to negotiate reciprocity.

00:23Obviously, China's a problem.

00:24Now his focus is primarily on China.

00:26I think that's appropriate.

00:27So, as I've been saying in there, I'm relieved like the markets are relieved.

00:32But, you know, you wanted certainty.

00:33Does this give certainty?

00:35At some point in time, I think it will stabilize.

00:37I don't know what the endgame is here yet.

00:39But this is, from my standpoint, this is a good thing.

00:42Are you concerned, though, that you don't know what the endgame is?

00:49Again, he's got a strategy in mind.

00:52If he reveals that to people, it's not going to be a very successful strategy.

00:56So, that's what I've been saying.

00:57I've got to give him the benefit of the doubt.

00:59And then just on the, there's this push for Congress to have a role in this, the Grassley-Cantwell bill.

01:04Do you support that, giving Congress a sort of a check on the president's powers?

01:08I think across the board, past Congresses have willingly given up all kinds of constitutional authority,

01:13which I think we ought to consider clawing back.

01:16If I had more confidence in Congress, I may be a little bit more open to it.

01:20But I'm not a real fan of this place, either.

01:23Politically, do you think if this goes on, this could be?

01:25What kind of impact does this have on the midterms, do you think?

01:28Well, I mean, if the stock market were to crash, we would continue falling.

01:31And we have a recession that would have a dramatic impact on the midterms, and Trump fully understands that.

01:38So, I was taking care of it early in this term.

'I Don't Know What The Endgame Is Here': Ron Johnson Discusses Trump's Tariffs After Pause

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