(Bloomberg) -- On the night of April 8, as US stocks reeled and Treasuries were selling off, a group of senators put it to President Donald Trump plainly: the market was in freefall because of his tariffs and he needed to lower the temperature.
“Pick one or two countries. Cut a deal now. I don’t care what countries they are. Pick one. Pick two,” Senator Ted Cruz said he told the president during the phone call. “I said I think that will calm the market down enormously.”
During the call, which lasted an hour, Trump pushed back, saying the tariffs were “great” and “raising a ton of money,” Cruz recounted on the Friday episode of his podcast. But the next day, senators learned at a Republican lunch that Trump announced a 90-day pause on his slate of reciprocal levies, except on China.
Listen to the Here’s Why podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen.
“There was a palpable sense of relief,” Cruz said.
The Texas Republican, typically one of Trump’s staunchest supporters in Congress, has emerged as a vocal opponent of the president’s move to ramp up tariffs. The policy poses “enormous risks” to the US economy and makes Republicans vulnerable to a “bloodbath” in next year’s midterm elections, Cruz said last week.
While US stocks staged a huge rally after Trump’s pause, high volatility has continued to rattle financial markets. On his Friday podcast, Cruz again likened Trump’s advisers to “angels and demons” battling over the trade duties.
The “demons” are pushing for long-term tariffs, arguing they would raise revenues, Cruz said. But the senator warned that approach would amount to a tax on Americans.
“I think that’s a terrible outcome,” he said.