In yet another striking departure from his party’s orthodoxies and obsessions, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman voiced unequivocal support this week for President Donald Trump’s escalating tariff regime—signaling growing bipartisan recognition of its strategic leverage abroad and surprising many within the Democratic establishment.
“Absolutely,” Fetterman said when asked by Fox News Digital whether the Trump administration was winning the trade war. “It seems like the E.U. thing has been going well, and I guess we’ll see how it happens with China.”
Fetterman credited comedian and commentator Bill Maher as an influence on his evolving trade views. “I’m a huge fan of Bill Maher, and I mean, I think he’s really one of the oracles for my party,” the senator said. “And he acknowledged it, it’s like, hey, he thought that the tariffs were going to tank the economy, and then he acknowledged that it didn’t.”
The comments came as the Trump administration intensified its global trade campaign, unveiling two new executive orders Thursday. One measure hikes tariffs on Canadian goods from 25% to 35%, effective Friday, with the White House citing Canada’s role in fentanyl trafficking as justification. A second order recalibrates tariff rates on a country-by-country basis to offset trade deficits and enforce “fair, balanced and reciprocal trade relationships,” according to administration officials.
The latest moves build on Trump’s sweeping 10% universal tariff policy enacted earlier this year, with elevated rates targeting nations carrying large U.S. trade deficits. Since that announcement, the administration has inked significant trade pacts with both the European Union and Japan.
Under the agreements, the EU committed to purchasing $750 billion in U.S. energy and investing $600 billion by 2028, in return for a 15% tariff rate. Japan pledged $550 billion in investment toward U.S. industries and agreed to broaden market access for American exports, also under the same 15% rate.
As President Trump presses forward with his boldest economic realignment since taking office, divisions among Democrats underscore the broader political recalibration now underway—one where traditional party lines on trade may be giving way to new alliances shaped by results rather than ideology.
