On Monday morning, President Trump officially announced the end to NAFTA, the longtime Clinton era-trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
"They used to call it NAFTA, we're going to call it the United States Mexico Trade Agreement," Trump said from the Oval Office with outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena on the phone. "It’s a big day for trade. It’s a big day for our country. A lot of people felt we’d never get here.”
Considering Democrats have been advocating for the end or renegotiation of NAFTA and other trade agreements for years, the move raises questions about how they will react to the new deal.
For all his rhetoric, President Trump looks to be sorely disappointing American workers on NAFTA & trade. https://t.co/CzAk6yGmLs
— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) May 18, 2017
Sen. Schumer: “The problem is President Trump has talked a good game, but done virtually nothing on trade but study it.”
— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) August 2, 2017
Editorial boards and columnists also have some catching up to do, while others are doubling down.
As I said yesterday, Trump is deluded if he thinks other countries are going to roll over on trade. Even the weaker players are ready to hit back https://t.co/dzWFML2r2o
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) June 1, 2018
My original NAFTA prediction was that Trump would negotiate some meaningless changes, declare victory, and go home. That prediction is looking fairly good right now, with one big hitch 1/ https://t.co/OtzwjtfCml
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) August 27, 2018
So far, the President's loudest critics on Capitol Hill have been quiet.
