Trump Tariffs Disturb His Own Supporters in Conservative Media: ‘Really Problematic’

President Trump has described his new tariff plan as a “beautiful thing to behold” — but not everyone in conservative media feels the same way.

A number of prominent right-leaning voices have shared their displeasure with the president’s “liberation day” tariffs since he announced them last week, including Ben Shapiro, who started his show off on Monday by sharing his thoughts on the matter.

Shapiro said there are a few cases where tariffs are an “important” and “totally understandable” tool, including when they can be used to leverage other countries to give the U.S. better trade deals. But he said the Trump Administration’s belief that “tariffs are good” and trade wars are “easy to win” is “really problematic.”

“The idea that this is inherently good, it makes the American economy strong is wrongheaded. It is untrue,” Shapiro said. “The idea that is going to result in mass reshoring of manufacturing is also untrue.”

Shapiro later called the chart President Trump showed off last week at the White House, highlighting the new tariffs, was “ridiculous.” The Daily Wire co-founder, who has more than 7 million YouTube subscribers, said stocks on Wall Street have plummeted because of the uncertainty surrounding the president’s long-term plans.

“It is absolutely unclear what President Trump is thinking at this point — and herein lies the problem,” Shapiro said. “You have a vast combination of radical uncertainty and policy that is being spouted by members of the administration that is overtly bad. There is no one in the administration who’s making the overtly good case; there are many people in the administration who are making bad to strained cases right now.”

His criticism stands out, considering he was one of President Trump’s most vocal supporters in the lead up to the 2024 election; Shapiro was also in attendance last month for the president’s speech before Congress. But he is not the only conservative commentator who has questioned the tariffs.

Ryan Saavedra, a reporter for The Daily Wire with more than 358,000 followers on X, has re-posted several comments that are skeptical the tariffs will work. He also shared a screenshot of a text from a right-wing friend on Sunday that blasted the “insane” tariffs.

“You start messing around with people’s investments and 401(k)s and you’re going to lose support — fast,” Saavedra posted.

Saagar Enjeti, the right-leaning co-host of “Breaking Points” on YouTube, which has 1.42 million subscribers, has expressed his reservations about the president’s plan as well.

“Not joking: the White House would have been better off using ChatGPT than whatever the f–k this is,” Enjeti posted on X last week in response to a picture of the president holding up a cardboard breakdown of his new tariffs.

Enjeti reiterated his irritation with the new tariff plan on Monday’s episode of “Breaking Points.” He said that, while he is generally “pro-tariff,” the rollout from the Trump Administration has been messy and goes beyond he discussed on the campaign trail last year.

“Nobody — nobody — this is why the markets crashed as they were — floated a 35-40% tariff,” Enjeti said.

“That’s where this is 10 times out of step even with allegedly many of the things that he sold on the campaign trail. And that is why you’re seeing the level of freak out,” he continued. “And very soon, real voters, you are going to feel this in a very real way. Screw retirement. We’re talking layoffs.”

In the two days following Trump’s tariff announcement last week, the markets saw $5.4 trillion in value evaporate while the S&P 500 plummeted to its lowest level in 11 months. Friday’s sell-off market the biggest single-day decline for the S&P 500 and Dow since COVID-19 rocked the market in March 2020, while the Nasdaq suffered its biggest single-day hit since 2020 on Thursday.

President Trump, in a post on Truth Social before markets opened on Monday, called on investors to hang tough while global economies adjusted to his tariffs.

“The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO,” the president posted. “Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!”

Elon Musk does not appear to be as patient about the tariffs as the president, though.

The X owner — who prominently backed President Trump during the 2024 election and has been spearheading the new Department of Government Efficiency for the administration — posted a video on Monday of economist Milton Friedman explaining how a pencil is made with parts from all over the world. The post was viewed by many as a stealth rebuke of President Trump’s plan, a day after he said the U.S. is “not going to lose a trillion dollars for the privilege of buying pencils from China.”

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