The majority of President Donald Trump's supporters either fully embrace his vision — with many expressing readiness to endure temporary economic difficulties — or feel cautiously hopeful that the president's controversial tariffs policy will serve as effective bargaining tools, according to a new report published Wednesday.
NBC interviewed 20 Trump supporters from key swing states to discuss Trump's tariffs following his recent policy announcement.
The tariff announcement that came last week has rattled financial markets and alienated billionaires who have a history of supporting Republicans.
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Some of Trump's supporters are weary of his plan.
“The track he’s on right now is just to p——— the Democrats off, and I think it’s kind of working, but no, I’m not really too happy with the way things are going right now. He’s really gone off the wall,” Cathy Phillips, a 64-year-old Trump voter from Pennsylvania, told NBC.
She said the effect of this policy must be hard for "seniors even older than us."
"Something’s gotta give somewhere," she added.
Still, some voters say they will gladly get behind his decision to impose heavy tariffs on the United States' trade partners.
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The White House claims that the income generated from Trump's tariffs on American importers will contribute to funding tax reductions at home.
“This time around, tariffs will help pay for both tax cuts and deficit reduction,” Stephen Miran, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), said Monday.
Echoing that sentiment, some respondents who spoke with NBC see the exceedingly high tariff rates as a tough negotiating strategy intended to pressure other countries into making prompt concessions beneficial to the American economy.
Some argue that this approach is necessary as a reaction to an economy they feel has not been favorable to them.
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Trump, along with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and trade adviser Peter Navarro, pushed steep new tariffs that are causing the stock market to plummet. Economists Paul Krugman and Robert Reich have said Trump's tariffs will cause a wide range of goods to soar in price and could be a factor in pushing the U.S. into a recession.