Trump Woos Political Donors as Tariff Worries Rattle Republicans

President Donald Trump cast his tariffs as a political winner in an attempt to assuage fears from wealthy Republican benefactors about the fallout of his signature trade policy just hours before even more sweeping tariffs were due to take effect.

“We’re going to win the midterm elections, and we’re going to have a tremendous, thundering landslide. I really believe that,” Trump said Tuesday at a fundraising gala for House Republicans at the the National Building Museum in Washington.

Trump’s appearance comes as lawmakers and business leaders fret over the White House’s sweeping import levies on trading partners, which have prompted a large market selloff and spurred predictions about a looming recession amid higher prices for consumers.

Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) dinner on April 8.

Photographer: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The event offered Trump a chance to speak directly to lawmakers and the party’s major contributors to soothe their jitters about the market and economic reaction to his trade plans.

The president was unbowed. He cast his tariffs as a moneymaker for the US government, said his announcements had sparked negotiations from trading partners offering concessions they never would have floated otherwise, and promised his long-planned “major” tariff on pharmaceutical imports would be announced “very shortly.”

Yet the tariffs could put Republicans in a precarious position including with the party’s deep-pocketed donors, directly hitting both the businesses they run and their personal fortunes as financial markets balk at the scope of the trade levies.

Citadel’s Ken Griffin, the fifth-largest donor to Republicans in the 2024 election cycle, has called the tariffs a “huge policy mistake,” and Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone called the import duties “bulls—-” and said Trump has been “poorly” advised.

House Democrats’ campaign arm, motivated to flip the chamber in the 2026 midterm elections, has so far outraised their Republican counterpart this year, capitalizing on donors’ desires to put a check on Trump’s power in Washington.

If that trend continues, that could be a worrying sign for Republicans who will be defending narrow majorities in both the House and Senate. Vice President JD Vance has been put in charge of the Republican National Committee’s fundraising, a crucial test for Trump’s No. 2 as he eyes a 2028 presidential bid.

Trump is facing reluctance from a faction House fiscal conservatives, who are balking at voting for a Senate budget blueprint to begin the process of fast-tracking the president’s tax cut bill. Those members have criticized the framework for not calling for enough spending reductions.

Republicans have leaned on the tax package — also a priority for donors — as a crutch to downplay fears about the fallout from the tariffs.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he wants to pass the tax outline this week, allowing Congress to draft and pass the legislative package — which also includes an increase to the debt ceiling and funding for energy production and border security — by late May.

“We really don’t have time to dither on this thing,” Johnson said Tuesday.

The Senate-passed plan calls for $5.3 trillion in tax cuts and a $5 trillion debt ceiling increase that required just $4 billion in spending cuts. That was different from an earlier House-led effort allowing for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and a $4 trillion debt ceiling increase in exchange for $2 trillion in budget reductions.

Narrow majorities in both chambers mean that Republicans must stay unified in order to pass Trump’s agenda amid universal opposition from Democrats.

“We’ve got to get it done and get it done now,” Trump said, warning Republicans against waiting because “crazy things” can happen in the world of politics. “Just get the damn thing done and stop showboating.”

To contact the reporters on this story:
Billy House in Washington at bhouse5@bloomberg.net;
Jennifer A. Dlouhy in Washington at jdlouhy1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Megan Scully at mscully32@bloomberg.net

Laura Davison, Derek Wallbank

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