CEOs Panicked as Trump Shrugs Off Their Dire Predictions
Not even President-elect Donald Trump’s aides have an answer for executives who have reached out with concerns about his plans to launch a multi-pronged trade war that could make life more expensive for Americans, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper reported that Trump’s recent, late-night social media posts advocating for tariffs—including a 100 percent levy on goods from Brics countries, notably Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—were the result of the president-elect acting mostly on his own.
The move has left business executives, fearing the worst, scrambling to find ways to shift his thinking, the Journal reported.
But, citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal said Trump’s team has communicated to corporate consultants that their boss is dead-set on his plans to use tariffs as a policy tool and they shouldn’t plan on dissuading him.
Even some of Trump’s closest allies have been given little heads up about his proclamations.
In one case, the Journal said Sen. Marco Rubio (R—Fla.), Trump’s pick for secretary of state pick and someone he discusses his tariff policy with regularly, was given little warning Trump would go public with plans to slap a 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico.
Rubio had previously been kept in the loop about plans for tariffs on Bric countries, the newspaper said. Rubio’s office told the Journal he shares “Trump’s vision of restoring America’s place on the world stage and working to bring about greater trade fairness for American families and businesses.”
Scott Bessent, Trump’s pick for treasury secretary, has also been privy to discussions about tariffs, but one of his allies communicated frustration to the Journal about Trump’s surprise disclosure of plans.
“Now comes the hard part. Rough,” they wrote to the newspaper in a text message after Trump announced his plans for tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Truth Social.
A Bessent spokesperson told the Journal he and Trump are “in daily communication on economic and geopolitical matters affecting the U.S.,” and said “Trump creates the strategies, and Mr. Bessent implements them in the most effective manner.”
An anonymous lobbyist who was a staffer in the first Trump administration told Journal he warns his clients that there is virtually nothing they can do to get the president to change his mind about his hardline trade policies.
During the campaign, Trump claimed imposing tariffs on imported goods wouldn’t hurt the economy or significantly impact consumers—something economists have widely disputed—though he has become more vague since being elected.
“I can’t guarantee anything. I can’t guarantee tomorrow,” Trump told Meet the Press last week, when asked whether consumer prices would rise.
The non-partisan Peterson Institute for International Economics estimates Trump’s proposed tariffs could lower the income of the poorest fifth of Americans by 4 percent—and wipe off 2 percent of the income for the wealthiest fifth of the country.
A household on the middle range of US income would lose roughly $1,700 per year.
The Trump transition team did not immediately reply to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
