Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) issued an “unequivocal condemnation” of President Trump’s tariff strategy, calling his approach unwise and “chaotic.”
In a Sunday interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” Booker was asked about high-profile Democrats who have stopped short of condemning Trump’s tariffs explicitly, instead saying that they can be a useful tool in the toolbox or that they agree with Trump’s “motivation behind the tariffs,” even if not his execution.
“Are those Democrats taking the right approach, senator?” moderator Kristen Welker asked Booker after spotlighting some Democrats’ comments.
“Listen, I just want to, for myself, tell you a full-throated, unequivocal condemnation of the Trump tariffs,” Booker said.
“There’s no wisdom in this, the chaotic way he’s doing it, the challenges he’s putting on American families, in terms of costs, rising costs and jobs. This has no strategy. It has no sense. He’s being attacked by people on the left and the right … from the markets devastating people’s retirement security, to the global chaos right now and unpredictability,” he continued.
“There’s no equivocation here,” he added. “His tariff strategy is wrong, the way he’s putting it out there, with no thoughtfulness, no slow increase of tariffs. It is all just wrong. It should be condemned, and it should be stopped the way it’s happening right now because it’s hurting American people.”
Earlier this month, the White House announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on foreign imports, as well as steeper “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of other countries, including many key trading partners. The president later announced a 90-day pause on higher tariffs for trading partners, bringing the tariff rate for foreign countries back to 10 percent during that time.
That alteration did not apply to China, however. Trump has ratcheted up tariffs on China to 125 percent on top of 20 percent levies, leading to a proportionate response from Beijing. That has escalated fears of a massive trade war between the world’s two largest economies. On Friday, the White House announced it is exempting electronics from the tariffs imposed on nations, including China.
