Texans can breathe a little easier knowing the state won’t be sacrificed on behalf of President Donald Trump’s faux brinksmanship.
On Friday, Trump shelved his plan to place a 5 percent tariff on Mexican goods, which he claimed would have forced the country to curb migration from Central America.
Trump canceled the tariff threat after Mexico agreed to send more troops to its southern border to prevent people fleeing from violence from reaching the U.S.— a deal reportedly negotiated months before Trump’s threats, much to the president’s dismay.
Now, with the threat of a trade war temporarily over, Democrats are pushing back against Trump’s underserved victory lap.
“President Trump undermined America’s preeminent leadership role in the world by recklessly threatening to impose tariffs on our close friend and neighbor to the south,” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in a statement.
“Threats and temper tantrums are no way to negotiate foreign policy,” she said.
In Texas, which saw Republican lawmakers join in opposition against the tariffs, Democrats continue to condemn Trump’s dangerous political ploy that threatened the jobs of tens of thousands of Texans.
Presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke also blasted Trump, comparing the president’s tariff and subsequent cancelation to being both an arsonist and a firefighter.
According to Trump, his proposed tariffs on Mexico are “indefinitely suspended.”
Administration officials have hinted the threat may return if not enough is done to stem migration into the U.S.
But even as Texans absorb the recoil of Trump’s erratic foreign trade policy, the president is now issuing new tariff threats against China— Texas’ top trading partner after Mexico and Canada.
“China is going to make a deal because they are going to have to make a deal,” Trump said.
