'Gobsmacking': Former GOP lawmaker blasts Trump's new 'incoherent' tariff attack

President Donald Trump went after Apple on Friday in a Truth Social post, threatening to impose a 25% tariff on its iPhones if they don't relocate manufacturing to the United States. One former GOP lawmaker called it "incoherent."

Speaking to MSNBC on Friday, former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) agreed that making an iPhone more expensive to nearly half of Americans who use them is both an economic and political problem.

"In addition to raising the prices of iPhones ... this tariff war is also spiking prices and things like, oh, cars! You know, we read daily that car prices could increase anywhere from $2,000 to $14,000. I mean, this is real money for people. And the fact that the president is now proposing a 50% tariff on the European Union — that's greater than what China is!"

China was able to reduce Trump's 145% tariff after waiting him out, Bloomberg News said. It now stands at 30% higher than it was.

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"Our discussions with them are going nowhere!" the president said in another post. "Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025."

"It's not just about trade. It's about foreign direct investment. Europe invests, you know, gobs of money, I think it's trillions of dollars into the United States. Often in manufacturing, biotechnology. Very good investment that employs millions of Americans. I mean — I just am — I'm, it's gobsmacking to me why he would do something that is so self-destructive."

He brought up the fight with Harvard, noting that international students going to the university helps the United States.

"So, none of this makes any sense," Dent continued, saying that it also helps the U.S. in exports. "It just strikes me as incoherent and self-destructive. So, you know, higher iPhone. Higher prices for bananas and coffee and cars and just about everything else."

Trump told his followers he's been talking to Apple's CEO about the tariffs for a while.

"I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else," Trump posted. It came after Trump spoke to Cook on May 14 about the matter, he said the following day. "If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

These are currently just threats. No executive order has been signed yet, NBC News senior policy reporter Shannon Pettypiece explained. She also noted that "time and time again," Trump has threatened a tariff without actually making good on the threat.

See the clip below or at the link here.

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