Politics
What Trump's nominations say about where trade and other economic policies might go
WASHINGTON — Some of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominations have raised hopes that his trade and other economic actions will not be wildly disruptive or bring back inflation. But that could turn out to be wishful thinking.
Based on the record of his first term in the Oval Office and on his current statements of his intent, Trump’s second term may see a break from the largely bipartisan consensus that has shaped U.S. economic policy for more than 50 years.
That consensus has centered on a push for more foreign trade, less government regulation of business, tax cuts and other fiscal stimulus when necessary to sustain steady growth and low unemployment. Though Republicans tended to put more emphasis on one element or another than Democrats, the overall thrust remained pretty much the same.
And supporters of that approach took heart when Trump picked billionaire investor Scott Bessent to be his Treasury secretary. Bessent is a familiar name in the hedge fund world, and for some years he worked under the longtime financier and Democratic backer George Soros. Wall Street immediately cheered the selection by pushing up stock prices.
But on the very next trading day after naming Bessent, Trump announced plans to slap 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, as well as 10% more on Chinese goods that are already taxed heavily thanks to the trade war he launched in his first term. The goal was to press Mexico in particular to curb border inflows of fentanyl and migrants.
On the campaign trail, Trump proposed tariffs of up to 20% on all countries and 60% on China.
And on Wednesday, Trump said he would bring back Peter Navarro as a senior trade and manufacturing advisor. The fiery China hawk and former UC Irvine professor clashed with other, more moderate top officials in Trump’s first administration. Navarro was recently released from a four-month prison sentence for defying a congressional subpoena related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack in 2021. (Navarro didn’t respond to text messages seeking comment.)
“If there was any illusion that the choice of Bessent was going to have an ameliorating effect, that got completely blown out of the water,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at the Wall Street research firm Fwdbonds, predicting more fireworks inside the White House, and outside.
“At some point companies are going to go down to Mar-a-Lago (Trump’s estate) and start to complain loudly,” Rupkey said.
In some respects, Trump’s picks for other Cabinet and major economic-related posts in the White House are also a reprisal of his past performance. There are billionaires, notably Elon Musk, named to head a new department on government efficiency; and traditional conservative economists, such as Kevin Hassett, an alumnus of the American Enterprise Institute, who’s been tapped as director of the National Economic Council, a key role in helping formulate White House economic policies.
And at least some of Trump’s nominees are unlikely candidates, particularly Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Oregon), a Latina who has been a rare Republican supporter of greater organizing rights for unions and had the backing of the Teamsters’ leader.
Heidi Shierholz, president of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, applauded Trump’s choice of Chavez-DeRemer as secretary of Labor. Chavez-DeRemer has personal connections to the labor movement. But Shierholz wondered what difference she would be able to make. As with Trump’s Labor secretary in his first term, Alex Acosta, she said Chavez-DeRemer was likely to face significant constraints.
“Trump doesn’t suffer dissent; I don’t have high hopes,” Shierholz said.
“Trump’s eclectic style is fully on exhibit in his Cabinet selections,” said Michael Genovese, author of “The Modern Presidency” and head of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University. Even so, he said, “the single common denominator in staff and cabinet selection has been loyalty to Donald Trump. … Trump likes to break things, and he has a lot of folks around him who are more than willing to do the breaking.”
Genovese added: “After his frustrations in the first term where insiders undermined the president’s wishes, he will not tolerate such insubordination in term two.”
Moreover, if Trump’s first term provides a guide, his economic and other policies also may be strongly influenced by a kitchen cabinet of informal advisors and an inner circle of confidantes who share his instincts and views on the economy, particularly his predilection for tariffs as a primary weapon for rebuilding American manufacturing and reducing the U.S. trade deficit.
That impulse toward protectionism and away from the global economy could again set off a major fight inside the GOP as two fundamentally conflicting visions collide.
One focuses on boosting domestic manufacturing, which could be helped by a reversal of trade deficits and a lessening role of the dollar. This “America First” strategy seeks a return to the policies that prevailed early in the last century, when U.S. manufacturing was protected from overseas competition by high tariff walls — that is, high surcharges on imported goods that make them too expensive to compete with U.S. products.
The other approach, more favored by Wall Street, sees an open global market as offering lower prices for consumers and more opportunities for American companies to tap capital markets and expand abroad.
American multinational firms and their affiliates spent about $200 billion on plant and equipment in 2022 and employed some 14 million outside the U.S., the latest year for which data were available from the Commerce Department. Their overall foreign sales: more than $8 trillion, with almost half in Europe and most of the rest in Asia.
Globalists are not convinced that reducing the trade deficit is vital to U.S. interests.
And they note that countries previously responded to high U.S. tariffs by increasing their own taxes on American goods. Economists say that will almost certainly push up consumer price inflation, which has been receding from nearly double digits in 2022 but remains about a percentage point above policymakers’ 2% target for core inflation.
“All tariffs on all products all the time, of 10% to 20%, are pretty alarming to business leaders,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management and an expert on leadership and corporate governance.
Trump picked billionaire investor Scott Bessent to be his Treasury secretary.
(Vincent Alban / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Sonnenfeld said Trump’s appointment of Bessent was “hugely reassuring” and suggested that he could, if confirmed by the Senate as expected, bring a moderating influence.
“Scott Bessent is definitely the adult in the room,” Sonnenfeld said, contrasting him with another wealthy Wall Street boss, Howard Lutnick, Trump’s choice for Commerce secretary.
“There’ll be some natural tension between Lutnick and Bessent as things unfold,” he said.
Michael Pettis, an American professor of finance at Peking University in Beijing and a nonresident senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, agreed that Bessent was an excellent choice.
As in the first term, China is likely to be a key target of Trump’s foreign investment and trade battles, including tariffs, which President Biden has kept in place while adding more restrictions on Chinese access to American technologies.
“Scott Bessent understands the economy systemically,” Pettis said. “I think he could be a very positive influence. The real question is, to what extent he will determine Treasury and economic policy generally?”
Bessent has talked about tariffs as a negotiating tool, and more recently argued for targeted tariff increases on national security grounds as well as to establish a more level playing field. And he spoke of a need for a “more activist approach internationally.”
In recent days, Trump also appointed as the United States trade representative Jamieson Greer, the former chief of staff for Robert Lighthizer, the USTR in Trump’s first term who renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement and pushed through tough trade measures against China.
What’s clear to some who have been following Trump’s appointments is that he wants to avoid the internecine warring in the White House that marked the early months of his first term and to be more forceful in implementing his agenda.
“I think there is a strong economic plan that reasonable minds may disagree on. Tariffs will be part of the overarching plan,” said Daniel Ujczo, senior counsel specializing in trade at the Ohio-based law firm Thompson Hine.
“This administration will not be handcuffed by the old orthodoxy of what you can or cannot do,” he said. “I think there’s a recognition in this administration that these voters elected them to do something. Voters were less concerned about what that something was.”
new video loaded: Senate Republicans Block Limits to Trump’s War Powers
transcript
transcript
Senate Republicans Block Limits to Trump’s War Powers
Senate Republicans voted against a Democratic bill that would have required President Trump to obtain congressional authorization to continue waging war against Iran.
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“The yeas are 47. The nays are 53. The motion to discharge is not approved.” “President Trump decided to attack Iran. That decision was profound, deliberate and correct. The president understands the weight of war.” “Why is Donald Trump hellbent on making history repeat itself? Why is he plunging America headfirst into a war that Americans do not want, and which he cannot even explain? The American people deserve a say, and that is what our resolution is about.”
By Shawn Paik
March 5, 2026
Politics
DHS defends McLaughlin against allegations husband’s company profited millions from ad contracts: ‘Baseless’
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EXCLUSIVE: Newly obtained financial statements shed light on claims that former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin’s husband’s company made millions from a DHS advertising campaign.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem faced intense questioning during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., specifically called out the agency for contracting a public relations firm headed by McLaughlin’s husband, Benjamin Yoho.
“I have personally reviewed the allegations against Ms. McLaughlin, and I find them to be baseless,” DHS General Counsel James Percival told Fox News Digital. “Nothing illegal or unethical occurred with respect to these contracts. Ms. McLaughlin was not involved in selecting any subcontractors.
“She is, however, a superstar in the public affairs world, so I am not surprised that she married a successful businessman whose services were attractive to these outside firms.”
Newly obtained financial statements address allegations that former Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin’s husband’s firm improperly profited from a multimillion-dollar DHS ad campaign. Lawmakers pressed Secretary Kristi Noem over the contracts during a heated Senate hearing. (Jack Gruber/USA Today)
Kennedy alleged that Yoho’s firm, The Strategy Group, “got most of the money” out of what the Louisiana Republican senator says was $220 million in “television advertisements that feature [Noem] prominently.”
“I’m sorry,” Kennedy said. “Safe America Media was a company formed 11 days before you picked them. And that the Strategy Group got most of the money. And the head of that is married to your former spokesperson.”
“It’s just hard for me to believe knowing the president as I do, that you said, ‘Mr. President, here’s some ads I’ve cut, and I’m going to spend $220 million running them,’ that he would have agreed to that,” Kennedy explained. “I don’t think Russ Vought at OMB [Office of Management and Budget] would have agreed to that.”
‘YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!’: PROTESTER DRAGGED FROM KRISTI NOEM’S SENATE HEARING
Senate scrutiny intensified over a DHS advertising campaign after Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., questioned whether a firm linked to McLaughlin’s husband benefited unfairly. DHS officials and the company deny any wrongdoing or multimillion-dollar profits. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Strategy Group is a conservative advertising agency for which Yoho serves as CEO.
Figures obtained by Fox News Digital show a slightly lesser total advertising expenditure of approximately $185 million, with a total of roughly $146.5 million going to a campaign called “Save America.”
However, of the total that went to “Save America,” roughly $348,000 went to production costs, while the remaining $142 million went to “media buys.”
Sources at DHS say that media buys are the cost of actually buying the ads themselves, whether purchased from social media or for a TV ad.
Kennedy also alleged that the bidding process for the contracts never took place and that Safe America Media’s recent founding was a cause for concern and collusion between McLaughlin and her husband’s business.
WATCH THE MOST VIRAL MOMENTS AS KRISTI NOEM’S HEARING GOES OFF THE RAILS
Debate over DHS’ “Save America” ad campaign intensified as senators challenged its costs and contractor ties, even as agency officials touted the initiative as a historic success in promoting self-deportation. (Graeme Sloan/Getty Images)
“Yes they did,” Noem responded during the hearing. “They went out to a competitive bid, and career officials at the department chose who would do those advertising commercials.”
The Strategy Group posted to X Tuesday that it never had a contract with the department. While it did receive several hundred thousand dollars for production costs associated with the advertising campaigns, The Strategy Group never made millions.
“The Strategy Group has never had a contract with DHS,” the post said. “We had a subcontract with Safe America [Media] for limited production services. Safe America paid us $226,137.17 total for 5 film shoots, 45 produced video advertisements and 6 produced radio advertisements.
DHS SPOKESWOMAN TRICIA MCLAUGHLIN TO LEAVE TRUMP ADMIN, SOURCE CONFIRMS
Critics raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest in a high-dollar DHS advertising effort, but department representatives say McLaughlin recused herself and that subcontracting decisions were made independently. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
“If you’re going to try to question our integrity, bring actual evidence — we did,” the post concluded.
Because these ads were purchased using public funds, all contract totals are publicly available.
Lauren Bis, who took up the role of assistant secretary once McLaughlin left office, told Fox News Digital Tuesday that scrutiny from Republicans and Democrats over the advertising spending was unjustified because the campaigns resulted in “the most successful ad campaign in U.S. history.”
“Sanctuary politicians are attacking this ad campaign because it has been successful in CLOSING our borders and getting more than 2.2 million illegal aliens to LEAVE the U.S.,” Bis said.
“The DHS domestic and international ad campaign was the most successful ad campaign in U.S. history. The results speak for themselves: 2.2 million illegal aliens self-deported, and we now have the most secure border in American history.”
KRISTI NOEM TO FACE SENATE GRILLING OVER MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTINGS AS DHS SHUTDOWN HITS WEEK 3
The Trump administration reaffirmed that all illegal immigrants are eligible for deportations as they focus on arresting violent criminals first. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Bis also compared the cost of arresting and deporting an illegal migrant to that of the minimal cost of an illegal migrant self-deporting. The department says the advertising campaign played a key role in marketing self-deportation.
A spokesperson at DHS also told Fox News Digital that contractors decide who they hire, fulfilling the terms of a contract, not the department itself.
“By law, DHS cannot and does not determine, control or weigh in on who contractors hire or use to fulfill the terms of the contract,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox. “Those decisions are made by the contractor alone. We have only become aware of these companies because of this inquiry and did not hire those companies.”
The spokesperson also noted that McLaughlin “recused herself” from interactions with subcontractors to avoid “any perceived appearance of impropriety.”
“Upon hearing who the subcontractors were for production of the ad, Ms. McLaughlin recused herself from any interaction or engagement with any subcontractors to avoid any perceived appearance of impropriety,” the spokesperson continued. “DHS Office of Public Affairs is the program officer. Ms. McLaughlin oversees the DHS Office of Public Affairs, which is simply the vehicle for this contract.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem takes her seat as she arrives to testify during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
McLaughlin told Fox News Digital the criticism of her and her family by senators at the hearing is a matter of public manipulation.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“This is yet another example of politicians intentionally trying to dupe and manipulate the public to try to manufacture division and anger,” McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. “The ad spend and contracts are a matter of public record, and the process was done by the book.
“These politicians would rather smear private citizens and American small businesses than do any basic research.”
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
Related Article
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans blocked a war powers resolution Wednesday designed to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities in Iran, as the Trump administration accelerates its military campaign in a conflict that has killed hundreds, including at least six American service members.
The motion failed in a vote of 47-53.
In addition to pulling out military resources from the Middle East, the measure — introduced by Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) — would have required Congress’ explicit approval before future engagement with Iran, a power granted to the legislative branch in the Constitution.
The House, where Republicans also hold an advantage, is scheduled to weigh in on a similar measure Thursday. Even if both Democratic-led measures were to succeed, President Trump was widely expected to veto the legislation.
“We are doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly,” President Trump said at a White House event on Wednesday afternoon. The president, who has come under scrutiny for offering shifting explanations on the war’s endgame, said that if he was asked to scale the American military operation from one to 10, he would rate it a 15.
Democrats dispute that Trump possesses the authority to wage the ongoing operation in Iran without explicit congressional approval.
Acknowledging the measure was unlikely to succeed, they framed the vote as a strategy to force lawmakers to put their support for or opposition to the war on record.
“Today every senator — every single one — will pick a side,” Schumer said. “Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted with forever wars in the Middle East, or stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and most of his Republican colleagues have maintained that the president carried out a “pre-emptive” and “defensive” strike in Iran, giving him full authority to continue unilateral military operations.
Republicans saw the vote as the “last roadblock” stopping Trump from carrying out his mission against the Islamic Republic.
“I think the president has the authority that he needs to conduct the activities and operations that are currently underway there. There are a lot of controversy and questions around the war powers act, but I think the president is acting in the best interest of the nation and our national security interests,” Thune said at a news conference.
Senators largely held to party loyalties, with the exception of Kentucky Republican Rand Paul, who broke ranks to support the measure, and Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman, who opposed it.
The vote comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the war against Iran is “accelerating,” with American and Israeli forces expanding air operations into Iranian territory. He pointed to evidence released by U.S. Central Command of a submarine strike on an Iranian warship, and also lauded other strikes throughout the region as civilian casualties in Iran surpassed 1,000 on the fourth day of the conflict, according to rights groups.
“We’re going to continue to do well,” Trump said Wednesday. “We have the greatest military in the world by far and that was a tremendous threat to us for many years. Forty-seven years they’ve been killing our people and killing people all over the world, and we have great support.”
Republicans blocked a similar war powers vote in January after the president ordered U.S. special forces to capture and extradite Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas on drug trafficking charges.
GOP leaders argued that the outcome of that mission equated to a quick success in the Middle East, despite an uncertain timeline from the Department of Defense.
In the House, lawmakers will vote on a separate war powers effort Thursday. That bill is led by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), the two lawmakers who authored the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
“Instead of sending billions overseas, we need to invest in jobs, healthcare, and education here,” Khanna said on X.
In addition to that proposal, moderate Democrats in the House have introduced a separate resolution that would give the administration a 30-day window to justify continued hostilities in the Middle East before requiring a formal declaration of war or authorization from Congress.
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