Trump Accuses 4 Republican Senators of Being 'Unbelievably Disloyal' Amid Tariff Bill Battle
In 1805-06, Republican Representative John Randolph of Roanoke, Virginia, clashed with President Thomas Jefferson, largely due to disagreements over foreign policy. Politically, this marked the first significant setback of Jefferson’s two-term presidency.
“Randolph’s revolt spread confusion and dismay in Washington. For four years, in the service of the administration, he had terrorized the House with his bludgeoning talents, his javelin-like wit, and his loss to the administration could not be easily repaired,” wrote Jefferson biographer Merrill D. Peterson in his 1970 book, “Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation.”
Put simply, history reminds us that internal party divisions are nothing new. This context is useful when considering President Donald Trump’s recent criticism of four Republican senators amid a Senate battle over a Democrat-led resolution aimed at preventing him from imposing tariffs on Canada. Early Wednesday morning, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, and targeted what he called “unbelievably disloyal” Republican senators.
The president’s rebuke was directed at Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Rand Paul, also of Kentucky.
Trump urged these senators to “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.”
According to The Hill, the Democratic resolution would “bar his emergency declaration to impose tariffs on Canada.”
Trump has framed Wednesday as “Liberation Day,” on which he intends to enact 25 percent tariffs on various imported goods from Canada, China, and Mexico. While he cites these countries’ failures to stem the influx of fentanyl into the U.S. as justification, these tariffs also align with his broader “America First” policy, aimed at strengthening domestic manufacturing.
“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,” Trump asserted.
Turning up the pressure further, the president accused the four senators of having Trump Derangement Syndrome.
“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?” he continued.
Finally, Trump urged voters to contact their senators and apply pressure on them.
Republican voters often find intra-party disputes unsettling. It’s understandable. At first, even I was uneasy when Trump nicknamed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis “DeSanctimonious.”
But does that matter now? DeSantis made his own political choices when he challenged Trump in the 2024 Republican primary. His success or failure will depend on his own actions, not Trump’s endorsement or criticism.
Similarly, Paul’s political trajectory remains his own. Many Trump voters have no particular concern for McConnell, Collins, or Murkowski. However, Paul is widely recognized as a champion of Republican values on most issues.
The real question, then, is whether Paul is aligned with Republican values on this issue.
Regardless of one’s current stance on tariffs, it is undeniable that Trump’s position aligns with historical Republican policy. Before World War II, no serious historian could discuss Republican ideology without mentioning tariffs. Protecting domestic industries was a fundamental Republican principle from the 1870s through the 1930s—just as it would be an understatement to say the late Marvin Gaye “could sing a little.” That doesn’t fully capture the reality.
Moreover, the Republican commitment to protectionism traces back to Whig leaders like Abraham Lincoln, who, in turn, learned it from his political idol, Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky, the architect of the “American System” of protective tariffs.
Ideally, the Founding Fathers favored free trade. But the real world did not support that ideal. James Madison, for instance, argued that practicing free trade in a world dominated by tariffs would be tantamount to national suicide.
Thus, individuals may hold their own views on Trump’s tariff policy. But the president maintains—with good reason—that America has gone off course since World War II, and that must change.
Of course, one can oppose Trump’s tariffs if they so choose. However, the reflexive libertarian obsession with free trade should be reconsidered. Supporting capitalism does not inherently mean championing free trade. The latter has always prioritized cheap labor and inexpensive foreign goods at the expense of American families.
And let’s not pretend that intra-party conflicts are something new.
Republicans like Jefferson, Madison, and Lincoln understood these issues well.