President Donald Trump is facing a marked decline in his approval ratings in the wake of his “Liberation Day” tariffs, which suggests he faces an imperative to negotiate favorable trade deals amid the 90-day pause on the most extreme tariffs.
Trump’s “Liberation Day” event weeks ago saw him impose sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on nearly every nation, fulfilling a campaign promise aimed at restoring domestic manufacturing and luring investment to the U.S. interior. “Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country and you see it happening already. We will supercharge our domestic industrial base,” he declared at the time.
The implementation of those tariffs led instead to tumult in the markets and significant backlash from the financial sector. The administration ultimately backed off and implemented a 90-day pause on the most severe tariffs while leaving those on China in place and keeping a base-line 10% tariff on most nations.