President Trump is urging Americans feeling the pinch from international trade policy disputes, as well as congressional Republicans who fear his tariffs will wipe out the economic boom right before the midterm elections, to endure the pain just a little bit longer.
Trade wars were there to be won, Trump said Thursday, citing the reopening of a U.S. Steel plant in Granite City, Ill., after the imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs as the kind of “great victory” for American workers a change in trade policy could make possible.
“After years of shutdowns and cutbacks, today the blast furnace here in Granite City is blazing bright, workers are back on the job, and we are once again pouring new American steel back into the spine of our country,” he said in a wide-ranging speech at the facility, where employees praised the president for saving their jobs.
The speech occurred against the backdrop of bipartisan concerns about Trump’s tariffs and the retaliatory measures they have triggered from Europe and China. Polls were showing a drop in Trump’s Rust Belt support and there were fears that farmers could hop off the Trump train next.
Trump acknowledged the political risks. “China tried to hurt the American farmer, because that way they were going to hurt me,” he said. “And that way, you would go in November and you would vote for people that don’t want borders, they don’t care about crime, they want to get rid of ICE, Democrats.”
“They want to attack the farm belt because they know those — the farmers love me,” Trump said earlier in the day in Iowa, a state he flipped to the GOP in 2016. “They voted for me. We won every one of the states.”
An NBC News/Marist poll out this week showed Trump hemorrhaging support in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin (where Gov. Scott Walker also appears to be in trouble), three industrial states he won or almost won and where Democrats are trying to hold onto Senate seats this year.
Republicans were already worried they would not be able to replicate Trump’s Rust Belt success in down-ballot races, much like former President Barack Obama’s coalition never fully turned out in the midterm elections while he was in office. But these results raised questions about whether these states — all narrowly decided — would even remain in the president’s column come 2020.
In response, Trump has approved $12 billion in bailouts to assist farmers and worked to get the European Union to buy U.S. soybeans. He has also appealed to farm country’s patriotism and begun to argue that the economy is strong enough to withstand the short-term disruption.
“Big numbers announced tomorrow; I don’t know what they are, but I think they’re going to be terrific,” Trump said of Friday’s report on economic growth.
Additionally, Trump has called for unity. “When you have people snipping at your heels during a negotiation, it will only take longer to make a deal, and the deal will never be as good as it could have been with unity,” he tweeted on Wednesday. “Negotiations are going really well, be cool. The end result will be worth it!”
Trump has pointed to both specific success stories like Granite City and Wednesday’s overtures from the European Union as proof his policies will work if given time, even as fellow Republicans accuse him of overselling the benefits and fundamentally misunderstanding the economics of trade.
“We need this trade war to be over long before November or it will be a debacle,” a Republican strategist told the Washington Examiner on condition of anonymity.
That seemed unlikely on Thursday, as Trump touted the benefits of scrapping the “worst” trade deals and practicing “free and fair trade” rather than what he called “fools’ trade.”
Congressional Republicans have protested but seem unwilling to pick a fight with the president over binding tariffs legislation before the midterm elections. Trump himself wants to stay the course for now.
