“Many of you watched in disgust as the most fiscally irresponsible budget in the history of our country was passed in March under a Republican government,” Hooks said. “We supported the election of some of these guys that just voted for a $1.3 trillion federal spending bill.”
Hooks added: “People are taking us for granted, and so if we want things to change, we have to do things differently. No more waiting for others to set the agenda. This network has got to lead.”
Charles Koch Says Trump Tariffs Triggering U.S. Recession
Billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, who leads a powerful policy and political network, said Sunday he worries President Donald Trump’s actions on trade and tariffs put the booming U.S. economy at risk of recession.
While saying it’s impossible to know for sure because the president’s trade policy remains fluid, Koch said the greater the level of trade restrictions, the greater the risk of severe economic fallout.
“It depends on the degree,” he said in Colorado during a rare on-the-record meeting with reporters. “If it’s severe enough, it could.”
Koch said any protectionism at any level is very detrimental. “Every nation that’s prospered is one that didn’t engage in trade wars,” he said.
Trump has already imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports in the name of national security, as well as duties on certain Chinese products in response to allegations of intellectual property theft. That’s drawn retaliatory tariffs on soybeans and other U.S. goods in an escalating conflict, although Trump struck a truce with the European Union last week pending further negotiations.
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