President Donald Trump went after four top GOP senators on Wednesday, blasting them for opposing his new tariffs on Canada. His attack came just before the tariffs were set to take effect on “Liberation Day.”
Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) introduced a resolution to end Trump’s emergency declaration, which would bring a vote that, while largely symbolic, could be a major political hit if several Republicans side with Democrats.
Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Rand Paul (R-KY) have already shown support for Kaine’s resolution, with Collins calling the tariffs a “huge mistake.”
In an explosive post on Truth Social, Trump blasted Senators Mitch McConnell, Paul, Collins, and Lisa Murkowski for trashing his plan. He accused them of “playing with the lives of the American people” and siding with “Radical Left Democrats and Drug Cartels.”
Trump ripped into the senators for exposing what he sees as the weakness within the Republican Party. He urged his supporters to pressure the senators to get in line with his policies.
Trump’s full statement read: “Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rand Paul, also of Kentucky, will hopefully get on the Republican bandwagon, for a change, and fight the Democrats’ wild and flagrant push to not penalize Canada for the sale, into our Country, of large amounts of Fentanyl, by Tariffing the value of this horrible and deadly drug in order to make it more costly to distribute and buy. They are playing with the lives of the American people, and right into the hands of the Radical Left Democrats and Drug Cartels. The Senate Bill is just a ploy of the Dems to show and expose the weakness of certain Republicans, namely these four, in that it is not going anywhere because the House will never approve it and I, as your President, will never sign it. Why are they allowing Fentanyl to pour into our Country unchecked, and without penalty. What is wrong with them, other than suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, commonly known as TDS? Who can want this to happen to our beautiful families, and why? To the people of the Great States of Kentucky, Alaska, and Maine, please contact these Senators and get them to FINALLY adhere to Republican Values and Ideals. They have been extremely difficult to deal with and unbelievably disloyal to hardworking Majority Leader John Thune, and the Republican Party itself. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump’s post came as Republican leaders try to keep their party united in the face of opposition to his tariffs, which are set to hit Canada on April 2. The president justified the tariffs under an emergency order, citing fentanyl trafficking across the northern border, even though his own intelligence chief has downplayed Canada’s role in the crisis.
