'DIVINE INTERVENTION': Miranda Devine Weighs in on Suspension of Butler, PA Secret Service Members
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CNN
2 minutes ago
- CNN
Analysis: Trump's tariffs are as unpopular as ever, but the GOP's tolerance is growing
There has been something of a shift in the conventional wisdom about President Donald Trump's tariffs of late. On the one hand, economists and political analysts have warmed to the idea that Trump is more or less getting what he bargained for out of his threats of a global trade war. This has come as a number of foreign nations come to the table and, in a few cases, cut apparent deals. On the other, that's different from saying Trump's tactics will ultimately work. And the picture there certainly got more complicated this week, including with yet more judges suggesting they could rein in Trump's tariff authorities and the increasingly troubling economic numbers highlighted by another bad jobs report Friday. Many have been wondering when (and if) the economic pain many economists predicted would actually arrive, and signs are increasing that it might be upon us. In other words, we seem to be at an inflection point, particularly with Trump signaling Thursday that he'll finally press forward with global tariffs (probably!) next week. But how is all of this playing? Are people reevaluating their previous positions? It's too soon to gauge public opinion on Trump's latest moves this week. But the short answer is that we haven't seen many shifts of late in the already pretty dismal views of Trump's trade war at the macro level; if anything, views appear to have gotten slightly worse. But there have been some key shifts that suggest his base is more on-board than it used to be, which could allow Trump to press forward. Overall, foreign trade and tariffs remain some of the president's worst issues, and it continues to look like the policy that very few people (besides Trump) are asking for right now. Gallup polling shows Trump's approval on 'foreign trade' dropping from 42% in February to 36% in mid-July. Fox News polling around the same time showed Americans disapproved of Trump on tariffs by a 26-point margin, virtually the same as in April (25 points). And CBS News-YouGov polling shows people increasingly dislike that this is a priority for Trump. Its most recent data, from mid-July, show 61% say Trump is too focused on tariffs, similar to April but up from March. It also showed a new high in the percentage of people who say Trump isn't focused enough on lowering prices (70%). (This also ties into the tariffs, because tariffs are often inflationary.) The CBS data also show a slight drop in the percentage of Americans who think Trump's policies are making them better off financially (23% in March versus 18% today), and an increase in perceptions that his policies are making food prices increase (52% in March versus 62% today). Overall, Americans went from opposing the tariffs by 12 points in March to opposing them by 20 points today. So if there is a vibe shift on Trump's tariffs, it hasn't really shown up in the polls – at least yet. But as with most things Trump, overall views probably don't matter as much as how his base feels. The president has proven over and over again that he's happy to plow ahead as long as his supporters are on board. And those supporters might be growing in their tolerance for this gambit. The percentage of Republicans who say Trump is focused too much on tariffs in the CBS poll actually fell from 34% in April to 28% today. And polling from Quinnipiac University suggests Republicans are also less pessimistic about economic pain from the tariffs. Republicans were already much more patient with Trump's gambit. More than 8 in 10 said in that polling in both April and today that the tariffs were likely to help the economy over the long term. That's been consistent. But there has been a shift in Trump's favor in views of their short-term impact. While Republicans back in April were about evenly split on whether the tariffs would help or hurt in the short term, they now say by about a 2-to-1 margin that they'll help over the short term. While Republicans in April said 46-44% that the tariffs would help in the short term, they now say that 62-30%. Republicans also overwhelmingly express confidence in Trump's strategy on tariffs, saying it's working, 84-9%, in Quinnipiac's July polling. All of which suggests Trump's leash on this has lengthened with his base, which matters a great deal. It means GOP lawmakers who might feel compelled to try and check Trump on this gambit will probably be less likely to do so. But all of this is subject to change, particularly if the economic numbers look suspect like many economists predicted they will. How Republicans respond to that is when the rubber will really meet the road and the White House could face some really hard choices.
CNN
2 minutes ago
- CNN
A Fed governor is resigning, opening a spot for a Trump appointee
A member of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors announced Friday that she is resigning several months before the end of her term, handing President Donald Trump an early opportunity to fill a key vacancy. Fed Governor Adriana Kugler is stepping down from her role, effective August 8. She was appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2023 and her term was slated to end in January 2026. The Fed did not cite a reason for her departure. 'It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,' Kugler said in a statement. 'I am especially honored to have served during a critical time in achieving our dual mandate of bringing down prices and keeping a strong and resilient labor market.' Trump claimed to reporters on Friday that Kugler was resigning because of the Fed's stance on interest rates. 'I understand it was over the fact that she disagreed with somebody from her party …she disagreed with 'Too Late' on the interest rate,' he said. Trump has taken to calling Fed Chair Jerome Powell 'Too Late' because the president wants Powell to cut interest rates. Fed officials have held interest rates steady so far this year. Trump did not offer any evidence to back his claim. But, he said, he was 'very happy' about having an open spot on the Fed Board. Kugler was absent from the Fed's latest meeting, in which officials voted to hold borrowing costs steady for the fifth consecutive time. Trump has bashed the Fed for months because the central bank hasn't lowered interest rates this year, and Kugler's resignation means he will soon be able to install a new voice at a time when policymakers are unusually divided. And whoever Trump picks will then be eligible to be the next Fed chair, if they're confirmed by the Senate to serve on the Fed's board. According to Fed rules, the chair can be chosen only among the current members of the Fed's board. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the administration is already actively searching for Powell's successor. Contenders for the top job at the central bank include Bessent himself; Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor; Christopher Waller, a current Fed governor; and Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House's National Economic Council. But even when Powell's term as chair ends next year, he could still stay on the board, meaning Trump's choices for Fed chair will be limited to the current members of the board. Fed chairs technically have three jobs: member of the Fed's Board, chair of the Board of Governors and chair of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The FOMC is the Fed group that sets interest rates, and the chair is voted into their position by committee members. It's legally unclear if Trump has the power to demote Powell and elevate another governor as chair. Powell's term as a Fed governor ends in 2028. In a news conference Wednesday after the Fed announced its latest decision, Powell refused to say if he intends to remain on the board after his term as chair ends.
New York Times
2 minutes ago
- New York Times
After a Weak Jobs Report, Trump Fired the Agency's Leader
Cracks in the U.S. economy appeared to emerge this morning when the Labor Department's monthly report showed a significant slowdown in hiring. Economists suggested that a variety of factors could have contributed to the cooling, including federal job cuts, immigration crackdowns and seesawing tariff announcements. However, President Trump implied that Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was manipulating the data for political reasons and fired her. McEntarfer was appointed to her post by Joe Biden in 2023 and confirmed in 2024 by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote in the Senate, after a long government career in which she served under presidents of both parties, including Trump. Trump's labor secretary said the firing would 'ensure the American People can trust' the government's jobs data. Others disagreed: 'If you want people to stop trusting the numbers,' one economist said, 'firing the person who is confirmed by the Senate to make sure those numbers are trustworthy is a real good way to do it.' In other economic news: Arguably the biggest news in the jobs report was two large downward revisions for May and June. Here's why that could be a bad sign. Trump backed off his threat of a 50 percent tariff on the African nation of Lesotho. But in this video, our Johannesburg bureau chief, John Eligon, explains how the damage has already been done. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
