A major donor to President Donald Trump is pleading with the commander in chief to get his “head in the game” and walk back his latest move that Zeteo’s Asawin Suebsaeng called “insanely stupid” and an “imperialistic disgrace.”
On Friday, trade talks between the United States and Canada imploded, leading Trump to impose a 50% tariff on a number of Canadian goods. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to match those tariffs “dollar for dollar.” Beyond the tit-for-tat tariffs, however, the Trump administration has gone scorched earth on its neighbor to the north.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took to Fox News Sunday to threaten Canada with “devastating” consequences if it doesn’t return to the negotiating table, going as far as to suggest the United States may no longer protect its NATO ally militarily.
“What happened this weekend wasn’t just folly and ‘Idiocracy.’ It was a scandal – an imperialistic disgrace that’s been going on far too long,” Suebsaeng wrote in an analysis published Monday in Zeteo.
To get a better understanding of what some of Trump’s backers thought about the president’s latest trade war, Suebsaeng spoke with Dan Eberhart, a major Trump backer who personally contributed $100,000 and raised $500,000 for the president’s 2020 re-election campaign, according to Fox News.
Eberhart was not a fan.
“We need Trump’s head in the game to win the midterms,” Eberhart told Suebsaeng. “Republicans are better off with Trump holding rallies and holding off on a trade war with Canada.”
Trump’s tariffs have been costly for Americans, who studies show have absorbed almost all of the price hikes caused by the elevated import taxes. On average, American households paid an average of $1,745 more due to tariffs during the first 11 months of Trump’s presidency, according to a study from the Democrats on Congress’ Joint Economic Committee.