GOP Strategist Says 'Congress Needs To Check The President' On His Tariffs

Forbes Breaking News

GOP strategist and Executive Director of Principles First Brittany Martinez joined "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss President Trump's tariffs and the Congressional response.

Transcript

00:00The economy shrank by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025, and that's the first time the economy

00:07contracted in a couple of years. But President Trump is saying, hey, this isn't my economy,

00:11that is not my fault. I want to read exactly what he posted on Truth Social. Quote,

00:16this is Biden's stock market, not Trump's. I didn't take over until January 20th. Tariffs

00:21will soon start kicking in and companies are starting to move into the U.S. in record numbers.

00:26Our country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden overhang. This will take a while,

00:30but it has nothing to do with tariffs, only that he left us with bad numbers. But when the boom

00:36begins, it will be like no other. Be patient. When do you think this tariff boom will happen,

00:42if at all? Economists aren't saying this message. They're not singing the same tune. They're saying,

00:47hey, with tariffs, a recession is more likely than not. They're saying, hey, rising prices could

00:54happen because of tariffs will happen. There will be less disposable income. So there's a major

00:59disconnect between what President Trump saying and what everyone else is saying. What do you think

01:04about his post right there? I mean, I'll be honest, I think the president is a pretty stubborn man. He

01:09doesn't want to be proven wrong. He's going to go full guns blazing on this. I don't know that I don't

01:15know what would change his mind other than very, very poor approval ratings. And I think we're on our

01:20way there. And, you know, I think he thinks he knows best and has sort of put himself around

01:26people. He surrounded himself this term with folks who may be are not as qualified from the first

01:32term. Think about all the people who ended up getting fired and then, you know, they're on his

01:36bad list. Right. And so now he wants to be surrounded by people who trust him, believe in him, say

01:43whatever he says is fine and great and will go out on TV especially and support him. And so I think

01:49that's I don't know what he can do other than to remove the tariffs and say, you know what,

01:53we tried it. It was wrong. Also, it's really rich coming from a billionaire who says it's going to

01:59hurt a little bit. Oh, kids, instead of having 10 toys, maybe you'll just have two toys and they

02:03might be a little bit more expensive than they normally would be. I mean, it's giving Jimmy Carter

02:07vibes. And that's not how you want to be starting the beginning of your presidency.

02:11And that's messaging that people didn't like coming from Democrats when Democrats were saying,

02:16no, the economy is doing well. If you're just thinking it, it's that it's not doing

02:21well is essentially all in your head. And that's a large reason why they lost in 2024.

02:26A bipartisan resolution to undo Trump's tariffs failed in the Senate this week. It doesn't seem

02:32like while Republicans or while Democrats rather in Congress are more vocal about opposing tariffs,

02:38it doesn't seem like Republicans want to really get involved or get in Trump's way.

02:43That's at least something that Congressman Mike Levin said to me earlier today. He said,

02:49Republicans are saying one thing privately, a different thing publicly. Do you think there

02:53needs to be congressional action here when it comes to President Trump's tariffs?

02:57I think so. And Congress all about signed away that power about a month ago or so when they said,

03:02oh, you know what, Trump can have control of the tariffs. But the thing is, is that our founders

03:06created three separate but equal branches of government so we can have checks and balances. I think they'd be

03:12rolling over in their graves if they saw what we'd done on this tariff thing.

03:16And yeah, I think Congress needs to check the president on this and especially Republicans.

03:21You know, it's one thing for Democrats to oppose. But when you're on the opposite side,

03:25you're generally going to oppose when it is a Republican who brings forth actual concerns.

03:29I think that brings credibility to the issue that, hey, this isn't just something

03:33that the liberal lunatics are worried about, which is what the Trump administration has called

03:38some of the people going out and protesting. It's like normal Republicans and people who are

03:42fiscal hawks saying, you know what, this isn't the way to do things and this isn't going to help

03:46the American people.

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