'No confidence vote': Battleground state GOP senator begs Trump to reverse course

A Republican senator from a key battleground state is increasingly desperate for President Donald Trump to find an exit strategy from his tariff plan.

"Sen. [Thom] Tillis sounding the alarm on tariffs," reported Max Cohen from Punchbowl News. "Says the administration needs to start publicizing 'specific negotiations' with trading partners."

"The markets are not going to cease in voting no confidence until they begin to see that," Tillis stated.

Tillis, who faces a potentially high-dollar re-election fight next year, is far from alone on the GOP side in voicing concerns about the tariff plan. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), normally an outspoken footsoldier for Trump's agenda, warned on his latest "Verdict" podcast episode that “virtually every trading partner of America is reeling right now,” and that while it would be "great" if they did what Trump is hoping for and capitulate on their own trade restrictions, "there’s another way this could play out, which is other countries get p----d off, and they jack up tariffs, and they impose retaliatory tariffs on American goods, and the tariffs Trump put in place remain in place.”

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Trump's tariffs, announced last week as part of an event he called "Liberation Day," charge 10 to 49 percent in import duties for virtually all foreign goods around the world. His plan directly singles out desolate Antarctic islands that have no people, let alone industry or trade with the United States.

Markets have reacted to Trump enacting the strictest protectionist trade regime since the 1930s with panicked sell-offs, as major stock exchanges slip into a bear market after months of growth. Trump has responded with a series of tirades on his Truth Social platform, calling investors "stupid" for cashing out in response to his trade policy and demanding they hold their assets.