'Punched the bully in the face': How some Republicans found courage to take on Trump

An article in the Washington Post published Friday said that President Donald Trump's controversial policy on tariffs sounded recession alarms, with stock and bond markets plunging, adding, "the world had punched the bully in the face."

"The man governs by bullying," the Post writer Dana Milbank said of Trump. "But in this case, the world had punched the bully in the face. Stock and bond markets plunged, recession alarms sounded, and Trump’s approval ratings sank," he wrote.

"That was surely the reason for Republicans’ newfound courage in taking on Trump."

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Milbank noted that Bill Ackman, a billionaire who has been a Trump supporter, said “we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter” and that “the global economy is being taken down because of bad math.”

Seven Senate Republicans and around twelve House Republicans, as the article notes, had indicated their intention to take tariff authority away from the president.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C) questioned Trump’s trade representative about the approach, asking, “Whose throat do I get to choke" if the decision to impose tariffs turned out to be a mistake. Sen. Rand Paul from (R-Kt.) argued that the tariffs were founded on a fallacy that will ultimately "make us lose our wealth."

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wiscon.) told The Post, “I don’t quite understand the strategy, and I’m not sure anybody else does.”

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This dissent within the GOP ranks as well as the response from the world is what made Trump reverse his policy, according to Milkbank.

But the opposition the president has faced over the past few weeks was not just linked to tariffs. The Senate GOP's budget also faced significant resistance before the framework was adopted by the House GOP on Thursday.

Some Republicans who were initially opposed to the proposal chose to focus on party unity rather than their earlier objections regarding government spending. House Republicans approved the Senate plan Friday by a slim margin.

The framework would lead to an increase of almost $7 trillion in debt over the next decade, while making only a minuscule reduction in spending of $4 billion.

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But Milbank warned, "The sniping will only worsen as the congressional majority moves to draft the actual tax and spending bill outlined in the budget resolution. But if this week was any indication, it might be hard to make out that particular sniping over the general din of fratricide."

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