Stephen Miller crashed a lunch for GOP Senate chiefs of staff and defended President Donald Trump’s much-maligned tariff policy with a baffling and “arrogant” lecture, according to a report.
The president’s deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser’s bizarre performance Thursday alluded to the British Empire and left the aides asking one another, “What on Earth was that?” Politico reported.
“He was very arrogant,” a second aide told the outlet, while a third said Miller was “lecturing folks while the market was in freefall.”
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Trump has been under fire since Wednesday afternoon when his announcement that the U.S. would slap universal tariffs on all imported products sent stocks plummeting and the risk of recession soaring.
The president announced a baseline import tax of 10 percent on products from every country in the world, then hit products from about 60 countries with additional duties ranging from 20 percent to 49 percent.
Companies in the United States will pay the tax, with the costs typically passed along to the consumer. Trump had nevertheless touted his tariff announcement as “Liberation Day.”
But members of his own party have warned the tariffs would be a disaster not just for the economy but for their electoral chances.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told reporters that the last time Republicans enacted sweeping tariffs in the early 1930s, they lost the House and Senate for 60 years. The time before that, in 1890, they lost 50 percent of their congressional seats in the next election.
Miller was dispatched to urge Republican aides to trust the president and hold the line, Axios reported. He said he acknowledged their bosses were taking some heat on tariffs, but argued the taxes would bring in $6 trillion in revenue over the next 10 years.
As he spoke, the S&P 500 was on its way to having its worst single-day loss since 2020, eventually plummeting by 4.8 percent. The Dow industrials also dropped 4 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell by 6 percent.
Together, they wiped out a combined $3.1 trillion in market value, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Some Senate Republicans hope the tariffs are just a negotiating tool and will eventually be repealed. But ironically, Miller’s talk of long-term revenue forecasts likely killed any optimism that they’re temporary, according to Axios.
