'Has no friends': Ex-White House economic adviser warns Trump tariffs have 'isolated' him

The former chair of the United States Council of Economic Advisers admitted on MSNBC on Monday morning that Donald Trump is finding out initial supporters of his tariff plans are quickly abandoning him.

On the same day that a bevy of Wall Street executives — many of them the president's biggest boosters during the 2024 election — harshly criticized his economic policies, noted economist Jared Bernstein told MSNBC's Ana Cabrera things are not looking good for the embattled president.

Over the weekend Trump-supporting hedge fund manager Bill Ackerman accused Trump of heading the country down the path to “a self-induced, economic nuclear winter.” Then Trump's closest ally and advisor, Elon Musk, issued a video in which he undercut Trump by admitting, "At the end of the day, I hope it's agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally, in my view, to a zero-tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America."

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"Folks on this station and folks at the Wall Street Journal are all equally inveighing against it," the economist told the MSNBC host. 'Trump has no friends here, he is isolated. His billionaire buddies are telling him, even Elon Musk is saying this is a problem."

After host Cabrera called specific attention to Musk's comments, she asked, "Zero tariffs, free trade zone: do you think that's where this could all end up?"

Bernstein laughed and joked, "If that's where this all ends up, I will come on your show and profusely apologize to the Trump administration."

"I would be extremely surprised because I think that they are, I mean, anyone who's followed them knows that that's the last thing that they're interested in," he added, throwing up his hands.

"Trump says tariffs are his favorite thing in the world," he elaborated. "They view the trade deficit as a scorecard in which we're scoring bad. There's no substantive or empirical economics to support any of those assertions, but that's what's in their head. That's what comprises the false reality that has gotten us into this mess."

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