Sen. Kevin Cramer’s conversation with Scott Hennen
WASHINGTON – North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer believes the country needs to take a breath and relax in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on goods from other countries.
The stock market had its worst day in nearly five years on Thursday. In the two days since the president’s tariffs announcement, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nine-and-a-half percent, the Nasdaq fell nearly 12 percent and the S&P 500 fell nearly 11 percent.
“The markets are emotional, but they’re not reality. They’ll come back. Hopefully soon. You never watch one day’s worth and make a decision. You look at a lifetime’s worth,” Cramer said.
Cramer says he talked with several constituents on a talk radio town hall on Thursday and didn’t get any questions on the tariffs. He says North Dakotans are more worried about the country’s budget, spending and Social Security.
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar believes countries will change how they do business because of the tariffs.
“The Canadians look for other markets and there’s other countries, other manufacturers, other farmers and other nations who say ‘We are more than happy to fill your contract, sir.’ ‘We’re more than happy to help you out with aluminum, ma’am.’ because of these tariffs,” Klobuchar said.
The president said he would be open to negotiating with other countries about tariffs. This comes after multiple White House aides have said the new taxes are not a negotiation.
Trump said on Truth Social Friday he had a productive call with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam saying he wants to cut their tariffs to zero if they can make an agreement with the U.S.
Cramer also spoke on the Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk’s campaign to reduce wasteful federal government spending calling the department useful.
“It’s been very good in identifying certain things, but without any political bias whatsoever or to even consider what Donald Trump likes or where we need to make investments. It’s been very generic, very big, a very wide net, but the details matter. It’s also created some expectation that may not be quite as accurate,” Cramer explained.
Cramer says The White House has yet to send the Senate a rescission package. Once that’s done, senators have 45 days to vote on it. It requires 51 votes to pass. If it does, money identified by DOGE to be cut is sent back to federal departments.
