In a stunning act of political betrayal, three Senate Republicans turned their backs on President Trump and their own party, nearly torpedoing a critical piece of his America First economic agenda. The Senate vote on April 30, 2025, tied 49-49, falling just short of reversing President Trump’s tariffs on Canada thanks to GOP defectors: Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
While President Trump pushes to restore American manufacturing, hold foreign competitors accountable, and put U.S. workers first, these three Republicans broke ranks to side with Democrats — once again proving that the biggest threat to bold conservative reform isn’t just the radical left, but weak-kneed Republicans unwilling to stand up for the people who sent them to Washington.
Sen. Murkowski made no effort to hide her disdain for the President’s approach, declaring in a speech earlier this month, “I think it’s time for Congress to reassert itself,” signaling her alignment with Democrats more interested in appeasing global trade partners than protecting American jobs. She admitted that Trump’s efforts to bring manufacturing home were “admirable,” but then undercut his strategy by accusing the administration of sending “mixed messages.”
Her comments echoed the kind of beltway bureaucrat talk Americans have come to resent — more worried about confusing our “trading partners” than defending the American worker from decades of economic surrender.
Fortunately, true conservatives in the Senate stood firm. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) pushed back on the narrative that Trump’s tariffs were reckless, telling the media, “People are willing to give the president an opportunity to prove that the new system works.” Likewise, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) added that the vote showed many senators “believe that the President’s policies deserve to be tried.”
But the Republican turncoats didn’t escape backlash. Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) didn’t mince words after Sen. Rand Paul joined the opposition. Speaking to CNN, Fine blasted the Kentucky senator: “If Rand Paul wants to get together with Bernie Sanders to fight Donald Trump, well, that’s on him. I know that I’m here to fight Democrats, not to work with Democrats to undermine what President Trump is trying to do.”
Rep. Fine then delivered a message that most GOP voters are shouting from the rooftops: “Look, tariffs are apparently a great idea when other countries do them, but when President Trump wants to level the playing field by fighting back, everyone loses their courage.”
Trump’s trade strategy isn’t about starting a trade war — it’s about ending the decades-long economic sellout of the American middle class. It’s about telling China and our other “allies” that the days of one-sided deals are over. And it’s about time weak Republicans either got on board or got out of the way.
The message from the America First base is loud and clear: You’re either with President Trump and the working people of this country — or you’re with the globalists. There is no middle ground.
