Sen. Rand Paul, R-K.Y., has suddenly emerged as a Republican critic opposing President Donald Trump’s latest moves — and he could suddenly be the biggest obstacle to Trump’s economic agenda.
Paul claimed that last week’s stock market decline was sending a clear message to America about trade restrictions, and he’s trying to rally support to his side among GOP lawmakers
“When the markets tumble like this in response to tariffs, it pays to listen,” Paul posted on X last Monday.
Since then, the libertarian-leaning Senator secretly delivered a private presentation to Republican colleagues during a Senate lunch, arguing against Trump’s protectionist policies.
“The public feels like free trade has sold us out,” Paul told fellow Senators according to witnesses. “But Americans are richer because of it.”
Paul’s rebellion reflects growing unease among some Republicans about Trump’s aggressive tariff implementation, which includes 25% taxes on imports from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods. The President has also threatened “reciprocal tariffs” on other countries.
Canada has already retaliated with its own 25% tariffs on $30 billion of American goods, while European nations threatened 50% tariffs on American whiskey – directly targeting Kentucky’s bourbon industry.
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Kennedy of Louisiana have already joined Paul and expressed concerns, though less forcefully.
“I think President Trump on economics and otherwise is doing very well, but you remember the old saying: ‘The danger of rising high is that the air gets thin.’ I’m worried about the tariffs,” Kennedy told Fox Business.
Tillis urged the administration to recognize when to execute a “strategic retreat” on trade battles, noting America has “more leverage” than other nations but not “all the leverage.”
The stakes for Paul’s home state are particularly high. “Almost every industry in Kentucky has come to me and said, ‘It will hurt our industry and push up prices of homes, cars,’ and so, I’m going to continue to argue against tariffs,” Paul told CNN.
Trump has defended the tariffs as necessary to address illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick framed them as leverage rather than permanent policy.
“Hopefully, Mexico and Canada will have done a good enough job on fentanyl that this part of the conversation will be off the table,” Lutnick told CNBC.
The administration temporarily paused some tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports covered by the 2020 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement until April 2, though other restrictions remain in place.
Trump has insisted he is “bringing wealth back to America” through his trade policies, and said it could it take “a little time” for the economy to absorb the change.
Paul’s opposition puts him at odds with many “America First” Republicans, who largely supported Trump’s tariffs. House Republicans recently voted against challenging presidential tariffs.
For years, Paul and Trump have a complicated history. Paul didn’t endorse Trump in the 2024 election and was ridiculed by Trump during the 2016 election when Trump said Paul “shouldn’t even be on this stage” because of his low poll numbers during the Republican primary.
Despite this history of tensions, Paul voted to confirm nearly all of Trump’s cabinet nominees. But with Republicans holding just a 53-seat Senate majority, Paul rallying opposition on Trump’s trade — and potential resistance to tax cuts that increase the deficit — may create future complications for the president’s agenda.