‘Everyone is terrified’: Business and government officials are afraid to cross Trump on tariffs

Capitol Hill Republicans, corporate America and White House allies are terrified about what’s next in President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war. But they fear Trump’s wrath even more.

Republican lawmakers are signaling they’re willing to tolerate the pain for now, despite the economic fallout back home. Lobbyists, who are quietly prodding the same lawmakers to defend their interests, don’t want to have a target on their back — or their clients’. Even some Trump world confidantes, alarmed about the tariffs’ impact, are hoping someone else intervenes.