Trump’s Advisers Are Freaking Out Over His Reckless Tariffs

Donald Trump’s wild tariff moves are freaking out his own advisers, who are getting panicked messages from business leaders.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump administration officials, including his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, are getting worried phone calls from CEOs and lobbyists hoping to get the president to lay out a specific economic agenda regarding tariffs. Several have stopped trying to get Trump to back away from his approach on tariffs, appealing to the White House for a clearer message instead.

On Monday, Trump met with CEOs from IBM, Qualcomm, HP, and other tech companies, who warned the president that tariffs could hurt their industry, the Journal reported, citing an unnamed source. Trump told reporters that the topic of the meeting was investing in the United States.

The various messages coming from the White House have also spooked Republicans who think Trump doesn’t have a coherent plan on the economy. Trump has refused to rule out a recession and indicated that tariffs could hurt the average American, and as a result stocks have plummeted. All of the market’s gains since his election have been wiped out, and Trump has flip-flopped and carved out exceptions for his tariffs at the same time.

Trump economic staffers have gotten nervous, including people on the National Economic Council, who are worried that the president’s tariffs and lack of a clear economic plan are not only hurting the stock market but leading to price hikes across the country. Trump has not listened to their warnings.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appears to be out of the loop on some decisions, at one point saying on Fox News that Canada and Mexico could be close to a deal with the U.S. to avoid some tariffs. This caused chaos within the administration, and some officials managed to persuade Trump to pause tariffs on items that comply with the USMCA trade agreement for one month.

Nobody seems to know what Trump’s plan or his endgame for the economy appear to be. For now, the stock market continues to slide, prices are in flux, and everyone watching the news is on edge for whatever crazy idea Trump decides to go with in the short term. People are spending less, and businesses have no idea what to plan for.

The European Union has struck back with its own retaliatory tariffs—and they’re aimed directly at red states.

The EU on Wednesday announced tariffs on $28 billion worth of U.S. imports, including but not limited to steel and aluminum, textiles, home goods, agricultural products, motorcycles, alcohol, and even jeans—with a special focus on Republican states. Tariffs will also be hitting soybeans in Louisiana (Mike Johnson’s home state); beef and poultry in Kansas and Nebraska; and produce in Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia.

“As the U.S. are applying tariffs worth $28 billion, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Lyen, who manages trade conflicts on behalf of the 27 EU countries. “We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with tariffs.

“Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States,” she continued. “We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy.”

This language is in stark contrast with how Trump has discussed tariffs, dismissing any fallout as short transitory periods while refusing to acknowledge the massively destabilizing actions that will have a negative long-term impact on Americans everywhere, including those who voted for him in November.

Pro-Palestine activist and legal U.S. resident Mahmoud Khalil wasn’t arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for committing an actual crime, but because Secretary of State Marco Rubio had personally determined that he had to go.

Khalil, who is a green card holder, was arrested by ICE last week under the authority of the Immigration and Nationality Act, or INA, two officials at the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security told Zeteo News Tuesday.

Section 237(a)(4)(C)(i) of INA says that any “alien” is “deportable” if the secretary of state “has a reasonable ground” to believe their presence could result in “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the United States.

Separately, a White House official told conservative rag The Free Press Monday that the government did not believe Khalil had committed an actual crime. “The allegation here is not that he was breaking the law,” the official said.

The White House official alleged that Khalil was “mobilizing support for Hamas and spreading antisemitism in a way that is contrary to the foreign policy of the US,” a claim that Khalil has denied and that the government has released no evidence to support.

The INA was originally used to oust those suspected of being Soviet spies. But it has never been used to punish speech, and it’s unclear what evidence Rubio would need to provide to justify superseding Khalil’s First Amendment rights.

Despite the shaky constitutional grounds, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Tuesday that the Trump administration fully intended to move forward with more arrests like Khalil’s, meaning that its crackdown on the free speech of Palestinians and their advocates will likely continue.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Council for Immigration, posted on X that the application of the INA presented “very significant” problems with free speech and that “the law may well be unconstitutional.”

Reichlin-Melnick explained that under the law, Khalil would still be entitled to an immigration hearing where he could challenge the basis of his deportation. His status as a lawful, permanent resident would not be immediately stripped.

Khalil, whose wife is eight months pregnant, was reportedly moved from New York to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, much to the surprise of his legal representation. U.S. District Court Judge Jesse Furman ordered a hold on Khalil’s deportation Monday, “unless and until the Court orders otherwise,” according to Reuters.

The lack of an actual criminal offense might explain why, at a press conference Tuesday morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson gave a confusing explanation for the arrest of the protest organizer.

In a post on Truth Social Monday, President Donald Trump cheered the arrest of the green card–holding graduate student, writing that the presence of “terrorist sympathizers” was “contrary to our national and foreign policy interests.”

Against federal regulation, Donald Trump is using the influence of the White House to boost Tesla sales.

Several Tesla vehicles were parked in the White House driveway Tuesday while the president practically hosted a commercial for Elon Musk’s car company. Trump was joined by Musk and his son as the president answered reporters’ questions about his sudden affinity for the electric vehicle.

“I’m going to buy because number one, it’s a great product,” Trump told reporters. “It’s as good as it gets. And number two, because this man has devoted his energy and his life to doing this. I think he’s been treated very unfairly by a very small group of people.”

“You can’t be penalized for being a patriot,” Trump said. “People should be going wild.”

But despite his adoration for the vehicle and the man who owns its factories, Trump won’t be driving it.

“I’m not allowed to drive because I haven’t driven a car in a long time,” Trump said. “I love to drive cars. But I’m going to have it at the White House, and I’m going to let my staff use it, I’m going to let people at the place use it.”

“I’m not allowed to use it,” the president repeated.

Trump proceeded to ooh and ahh over his new car, including getting inside and announcing, “Everything’s computer!”

But the strange showcase is evidence that the global Tesla boycott is making an impact. Tesla stock is down by 45 percent so far this year, and analysts have faulted Musk’s reputational shift for the automaker’s financial woes.

Tesla historically attracted a more liberal consumer base with its electric vehicles, but since Musk went “dark MAGA,” that same base has soured on the tech billionaire and his products. That’s proven especially true in some of Europe’s stronger economies, such as Germany, which has seen sales in the country fall by more than 70 percent over the last two months, reported Bloomberg. Sales in China—where Tesla has two major factories—have similarly plummeted, falling by 49 percent in February.

On Monday, the automaker’s stock had its worst day since 2020, as its Musk-induced problems coincided with historic market volatility under Trump’s new tariff plans and further instability caused by the Musk-induced mass layoffs across government.

In a Truth Social post Monday, Trump claimed that the boycott was unlawful, writing that “radical left lunatics” were “illegally and collusively” attacking the company.

Fact check: Boycotts are not illegal and are protected by the First Amendment in the Constitution. The Supreme Court affirmed Americans’ rights to protest private businesses in a landmark 1982 case, NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co.

But U.S. regulations do prohibit federal employees from using their public office to benefit themselves, their friends, families, or affiliates “for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise.”

Still, it’s not the first time that Trump has used the prestige of the Oval Office to push product. In the midst of the pandemic, the president and his daughter Ivanka used their federal platform to shill beans for Goya, amid nationwide calls to boycott the company after its CEO said the country was “blessed” to have Trump as its leader. The stunt came during a push by the Trumps to increase the president’s appeal with Latino voters ahead of the 2020 election.

Staff at the Department of Education have been told to leave the agency’s headquarters by 6 p.m. Tuesday and that all department offices across the country will be closed Wednesday, with no reason or justification except “security reasons.”

CBS News reports that an email was sent to department staff Tuesday from James Hairfield of the Office of Security, Facilities, and Logistics telling them to bring their laptops home, with staff approved for telework told to work remotely on Wednesday.

“Employees will not be permitted in any ED facility on Wednesday, March 12th, for any reason,” the email stated, stating that offices would reopen on Thursday, “at which time in-person presence will resume.”

The move raises questions, considering both the vague reasoning and ongoing events at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which, like the Education Department, has been targeted by the Trump administration to be shut down permanently. USAID employees were ordered Tuesday to destroy classified and personnel documents, in a likely violation of federal law.

Could similar steps be taken at the Education Department? “Security reasons” is vague enough to mean anything. Under the Trump administration, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has conducted all kinds of legally questionable moves in government offices, from setting up commercial servers to even setting up living spaces with expensive sleeping pods. This time, however, they’re targeting a full-fledged department—and closing it will be a tall order for Musk and Trump.