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'WTF! Who’s in charge?': US trade representative unaware of Trump's '90-day tariff pause'; irked Democrats react

'WTF! Who’s in charge?': US trade representative unaware of Trump's '90-day tariff pause'; irked Democrats react

Story highlights

World: Trump's congressional allies were publicly supporting president's erratic tariff decisions as recently as 15 minutes prior to the 90-day pause announcement.

While US President Donald Trump was posting about hitting a pause on tariffs on more than 75 countries, the Republican lawmakers, including Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, were not even aware about the same.

However, the GOP lawmakers have expressed relief at Trump's U-turn on global tariffs, but the Democrats are certainly not.

Trump's congressional allies were publicly supporting president's erratic tariff decisions as recently as 15 minutes prior to the 90-day pause announcement.

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On Wednesday, Trump said that he would put a "90-day PAUSE" and a "substantially lowered reciprocal tariff" on more than 75 countries that have called the US representatives for negotiations.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins appeared on Fox on Wednesday night and was pushing Trump's tariffs just minutes before the pause.

However, Rollins was not alone in this. Most of MAGA lawmakers got to know about this like the rest of us, through Trump's Truth Social post, Politico reported.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, was only known to himself and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who were in the room with the president as it happened.

Trump defended that, by saying, "I’ve been dealing with Scott, with Howard, with some other people that are very professional. And I think it probably came together early this morning, fairly early this morning, just wrote it up,", adding that the post "came from the heart".

'You just got the rug pulled out from under you'

Trump’s US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was forced to speak in real-time on the issue on Wednesday night as he testified at a House Ways and Means Committee.

“I understood the decision was made a few minutes ago,” Greer said when quizzed on the pause.

“I understand it’s 90 days, I haven’t spoken to the president since I’ve been in this hearing,” Greer said.

Democratic New York Rep. Tom Suozzi criticised Trump's not informing this to his lawmakers, saying, "I feel like you’re in a very bad position here, this whole idea that this president made this switcheroo on you while you were in the middle of testifying here today."

However, Representative Steven Horsford became more brutal toward Greer.

“WTF! Who’s in charge? Because it sure doesn’t look like it’s the trade representative—you just got the rug pulled out from under you,” he told Greer.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Mansi Arora

Ardent geopolitical news writer with a keen eye for global affairs. With passion for illuminating the complexities of global dynamics, Mansi explores her interests by delivering ne...Read More