President Trump went on the offensive Monday, unveiling a series of actions and instructions for his administration related to tariffs, refugees, and the declassification of documents, even as he weathered the storm brewing around Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who is facing a sexual misconduct allegation that is disrupting his confirmation process.
Amid a blitz of announcements, Trump offered cover to Kavanaugh following an accusation of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford, who claims Kavanaugh forced himself upon her in the 1980s while they were both in high school. “We want to go through a full process … and hear everybody out,” Trump told reporters Monday. “If it takes a little delay, it’ll take a little delay. Shouldn’t be much delay. I’m sure it will work out very well.”
The Senate is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Monday where both Kavanaugh and Ford will testify. Kavanaugh has rejected Ford’s claims and characterized them as a “completely false allegation.” The hearing will postpone a Thursday vote to move Kavanaugh’s nomination forward.
Shrugging off the setback, Trump made news on a wide array of fronts and in one case upsetting members of his own party.
After already imposing tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods, Trump announced a new round of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, and cautioned that he may hit tariffs on an additional $267 billion of goods in the future.
“If China takes retaliatory action against our farmers or other industries, we will immediately pursue phase three, which is tariffs on approximately $267 billion of additional imports,” Trump said in a statement issued by the White House Monday evening.
The latest series of tariffs will officially take effect on Sept. 24 at a 10 percent duty, although the duty will increase to 25 percent next year.
In the face of opposition from GOP lawmakers who worry that Americans will pay the consequences of the tariffs, Trump stressed that China’s trade practices “plainly constitute a grave threat to the long-term health and prosperity of the United States economy.” He also urged China to quickly modify their trade practices as a result, yet signaled that he was optimistic he and Chinese President Xi Jinping could hash out a solution.
“What the president has consistently indicated is that he will take what he regards as the appropriate measures necessary to get China to change its actions and to treat Americans more fairly,” a top administration official said. “To the extent that they remain unwilling to work with us, the president has other options and those will be considered at a future time.
The announcement elicited backlash from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who claimed Americans would be saddled with increased costs.
“Any time tariffs are imposed I worry that Americans will be forced to pay extra costs — in this case on nearly half of U.S. imports from China,” Brady said in a statement. “I continue to emphasize that the ultimate means to create an effective outcome is for President Trump and President Xi to engage constructively to develop a long-term and profound solution that levels the playing field for American manufacturers, farmers, and workers.”
Trump’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, announced Monday afternoon that the administration is cutting down on the number of refugees that are allowed into the U.S. in 2019. Although the cap for fiscal 2018 was set at 45,000, a maximum of 30,000 refugees will be permitted into the country in 2019. Pompeo cited the need for comprehensive background checks, in addition to addressing the 800,000 pending asylum seekers already in the country, as why the cap was necessary.
“In consideration of both U.S. national security interest and the urgent need to restore integrity to our overwhelmed asylum system, the United States will focus on addressing the humanitarian protection cases of those already in the country,” Pompeo said.
“We must continue to responsibly vet applicants to prevent the entry of those who might do harm to our country,” Pompeo added. “Already this year, we have seen evidence that the system previously in place was defective. It allowed a foreign national to slip through who was later discovered to be a member of ISIS, as well as other individuals with criminal backgrounds.”
Trump also shook the political spectrum when he announced his decision to declassify certain key documents related to the federal investigation looking at interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump administration colluded with the Kremlin.
According to a statement from White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, documents, including all text messages related to the Russia probe of former FBI Director James Comey, DOJ official Bruce Ohr, and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, were ordered released. Trump also put in motion the declassification of select documents pertaining to the Russia investigation, including some related to the FISA surveillance warrants to spy on onetime Trump campaign aide Carter Page and FBI interviews with Ohr, who had ties to Trump dossier author Christopher Steele.
Although Republicans including Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., praised Trump moving to declassify the documents and claimed “transparency wins,” Democrats such as ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called the instructions a “clear abuse of power.” Schiff pointed out that the documents had been selectively chosen to advance Trump’s defense team, as not all the documents related to the four FISA warrant applications were singled out for declassification.
