In private conversations weeks ago, senior advisers close to President Trump warned that some tariff proposals could have devastating effects on global financial markets and send the U.S. economy spiraling.
The White House has taken pains to say administration officials are unified on the tariff effort announced on April 2, which the White House dubbed “Liberation Day.”
But internal disagreements over that policy manifested well before that, with leaders offering predictions of serious economic instability, multiple sources familiar with the exchanges told CBS News.
One argument took place between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro in chief of staff Susie Wiles’ office in late March, in the days before Mr. Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs were announced.
The following account is from multiple sources familiar with the meeting. Navarro wanted 25% across-the-board tariffs on all $3 trillion of imported goods. Bessent, who made a career as a Wall Street investor, warned of market turmoil and outlined various scenarios.
Heated words flew.
Navarro sneered: “You’re doing the same thing they did in the first term. Don’t pull this. Don’t be him.”
Advisers in the room later told people close to them that they interpreted that to mean don’t be like then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin or then-economic adviser Gary Cohn, both former Goldman Sachs executives who served in the first Trump administration and pushed back against hardline tariffs ideas.
Spokespeople for the Treasury Department declined to comment on the spat.
Navarro told CBS News: “Fake news from malevolent anonymous sources. Scottie and I don’t argue. We think things through.”
In other internal debates before the Rose Garden announcement, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick predicted that certain tariffs could cause global disaster.
Bessent on multiple occasions pushed for a calculated rollout with more targeted tariffs than what Navarro pushed.
Elon Musk, the administration’s top government efficiency adviser, was not part of key decision meetings on the tariffs. Musk was careful to not broadcast his strong disdain for certain aspects of the tariff policy except in very small circles, although some of that eventually emerged in criticism of Navarro on social media. Musk also publicly advocated for zero tariffs between the United States and the European Union.
Navarro maintained that there should be no negotiations — the tariffs should be left in place to generate revenue and to muscle manufacturers into domestic production.
But in the days after the “Liberation Day” announcement, financial markets reeled, proving correct some of Trump’s advisers’ predictions. Trillions of dollars were erased from the major stock indexes and the bond market sent alarming signals. Wall Street investment firms like Goldman Sachs predicted higher odds of recession and some of America’s top CEOs publicly expressed their concerns.
In an interview on the morning of April 9, America’s top banker, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told Maria Bartiromo that a recession was “a likely outcome.”
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said on CNBC that the turmoil was “self-inflicted,” and announced that the company was suspending its full year guidance given the “uncharted, unprecedented uncertainty.”
The same morning, Mr. Trump attempted to reassure investors and executives and posted: “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well.”
By the afternoon, with input from Bessent and Lutnick, Mr. Trump opened a pressure release valve and paused some of the tariffs for 90 days.
“Well, I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line,” Mr. Trump said. “They were getting yippy — you know, they were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid.”
