Donald Trump’s focus on tariffs as an economic weapon is “misguided”, and the US economy is “very wobbly”, a former adviser and longtime supporter of the president said.
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“I think that the president’s emphasis on tariffs right now is misguided,” Stephen Moore told Fox News on Sunday night. “I think we have a very wobbly economy. We saw a not-very-good jobs report on Friday. The consumer confidence numbers are sinking, and other indicators are not positive.
“The economy needs [a] pick-me-up, and tariffs are not a pick-me-up. What is, is the Trump tax cut. Congress has to get this passed as soon as possible – by Memorial Day. That will provide the stimulus the economy needs.”
Long an advocate of tax cuts, Moore is the author of books including Trumponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive Our Economy, from 2018.
In 2019, Trump picked Moore for a seat on the Federal Reserve board. Moore eventually withdrew, after the Guardian reported tax and legal issues including underpayment of alimony – and other outlets reported allegedly sexist and racist remarks.
Moore said “unrelenting attacks on my character” had made seeking a Fed role “untenable for me and my family”. But he told Trump he would “continue to be a loud economic voice advocating your policies” and would “always [be] at your disposal”.
Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Moore was a chapter co-author for Project 2025, the vast policy plan coordinated by the hard-right Heritage Foundation that Trump disavowed on the campaign trail but which is now influencing White House policy after his victory in the race.
Trump and key allies insist the US economy is strong and that imposing tariffs on erstwhile allies such as Canada and Mexico as well as competitors like China is right – notwithstanding Trump’s own warning to Fox News on Sunday, in which he said the US “may” go into recession.
Moore has previously shown willingness to depart the party line.
Related: ‘I hate to predict things’: Trump doesn’t rule out US recession amid trade tariffs
In March 2024, after what turned out to be Joe Biden’s last State of the Union address, Moore told Fox Business: “Let me just say one thing positive about where we are right now. One thing that Biden said last night was true. It is true that the United States today has the strongest economy. There is no question about it.
“If you look at what’s happening in Europe today, Germany, Britain, France, if you look at Japan and China, they’re not growing. And so it is true … the way I like to put it is we are the least rotten apple in the cart and that’s … important to cheer.”
On Sunday, as Trump’s tariffs policy continued to heat up trade wars with Canada, Mexico and China, Moore told Fox News host Katie Pavlich: “Well, you used the word ‘complicated’ and that’s exactly what it has been over the last week, where one day the tariffs are going to go up and then there’s going to be a delay in the tariffs, and then there’s going to be a tariff on another country; and it’s been up and down and up and down. And, by the way, the stock market went up and down and up and down with these things.”
