Trump's disdain for experts, even on his own staff, drives tariffs push

Source: Politico | March 7, 2018 | Nancy Cook

Time and again, the president has gone with his gut issues over the objections of advisers, preferring to stick to his own assessments—and keep campaign promises.

President Donald Trump always wants to be the decider — even if alienates top aides, Republican lawmakers, or half the business community.

Over the past year, he’s repeatedly gone with his gut and trusted his own judgment over advice from experts, including those on his own staff, on pulling out of the Paris climate accord, banning transgender recruits from the military, and moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

The same pattern is now playing out in Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports over the public objection of his some of own advisers, senior Republican leaders and top business lobbying groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable.

Until economic adviser Gary Cohn announced his resignation on Tuesday, free trade advocates had hoped they could slow-walk the tariffs—which still need to be written after Trump made a surprise announcement at a televised meeting with industry executives last week—and buy time to push Trump in a different direction.

But Trump doesn’t seem to be open to slow-walking of any kind. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Wednesday said the tariffs were on track to be finalized and released later this week.

Staffers inside the West Wing and close advisers to the White House said they don’t see many hints of Trump backing down.

“He did campaign on this. He has said American workers have been disadvantaged by the trade deals of the past, and he has had dozens and dozens of meetings at the White House with members to talk this through,” said Marc Short, White House director of legislative affairs. “It is hard to be surprised by it.”

While it’s often difficult to change the president’s mind on key issues, people who have been involved in White House policy debates say they’ve had some success in convincing Trump to moderate his final decision.

Already, the president has suggested he’s open to exempting Canada and Mexico from any tariffs, contingent on renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, an idea Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reiterated on Tuesday at a hearing on Capitol Hill. Now that’s free-traders best hope to make the tariffs less severe.

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