On Tuesday, trade talks with China appeared to stall. The diplomatic standstill wreaked havoc on the stock market. And now, it appears that by promoting Trump's position on trade, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is angering free trade proponents on the right.
CNBC reports that Pompeo has begun to frustrate conservatives who believe in open borders by seemingly embracing Trump's anti-trade agenda. That in turn might complicate his chances if he runs for office.
"Since becoming secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has embraced President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade stances, particularly when it comes to China," CNBC writes.
"Yet while he is pushing the president’s agenda, Pompeo is risking his long-standing alliance with free-trade groups like the Koch network, which backed him during his political rise as a Republican former congressman from Kansas."
If Pompeo has Presidential aspirations, his current job may undermine them.
"'Pompeo is traditionally a Koch-backed free trader. Since joining the administration, [Pompeo] has layered ‘America First’ on top of that to assist Trump’s efforts to level the playing field with China,” Dan Eberhart, a leading Republican donor, told CNBC. “The Kochs have a litmus test so this might foreclose the door on them helping him.”
Bill Riggs, a spokesman for the Koch network, told CNBC that “our focus is really on policy,” when asked about Pompeo’s role in supporting the trade war, which the group opposes. “We support the administration’s stated and ultimate goal of zero tariffs and zero barriers, but more tariffs are the wrong way to get there.”
Read the report here.
