COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Top officials from the powerful Koch network warned President Donald Trump’s tariffs — and his divisive governing style — stand to create “long-term damage” to the country as donors assembled here to kick off their twice-yearly confab Saturday. The network, helmed by billionaire Charles Koch, fired the warning shots after weeks of tension with the White House over Trump’s tariffs, which are in opposition to the Koch network's free-market worldview.
“The divisiveness of this White House is causing long-term damage,” said Brian Hooks, one of Charles Koch’s top deputies, during a briefing for reporters. “When in order to win on an issue someone else has to lose, it makes it very difficult to unite people and solve the problems in this country. You see that on trade: In order to get to a good place on trade, convince the American people that trade is bad.”
A video produced by the Koch network focused on the dangers of anti-free-trade sentiment across the country. In it, Charles Koch warned the current “rise in protectionism” represents a “a natural tendency, but it’s a destructive one.” A failure to embrace innovation has “doomed many,” Koch warns, while images of shuttered Blockbuster video and Borders books stores flashed on the screen.
Poster Comment:
Divisive. Divisivity divisiveness.