Exclusive: To warn his party that is heading towards the “wrong” way of trade.
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, was one of the few Democrats to express optimism about President Donald Trump’s support for tariffs.
Golden pointed out in a brief interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday that he himself proposed a 10% universal tariff legislation earlier this year and at the previous Congress.
When asked how his stance on tariffs was received by fellow House Democrats, Golden said, “Well, I think they’re moving in the wrong direction when it comes to trade.”
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Rep. Jared Golden on the left once again tied his fellow House Democrats over trade issues, as minority leader Hakem Jeffries and others have been holding back tariffs. (Getty Images)
“I think it was a knee reaction to the president,” Maine Democrats explained recent rage.
He said that Democrats, whom he joined in his “formational period,” were “something like the World Trade Organization, or [the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)]. ”
“I think it was a sudden movement in the opposite direction. That’s a shame,” Golden said. “You have to look beyond who the president is… to ask yourself what’s good for rural communities, working-class people, or cities like Detroit, whatever it is, those who have been hit hardest by the existing trading regime.”
But he added, “I think this debate has been brewed since the ’90s, so it’s not just Trump.”
President Donald Trump keeps the charts when making mutual tariff remarks at an event at the Rose Garden in Washington on April 2, 2025 (Getty Images)
Golden is known to infiltrate from his own party on issues such as trade, border security, and especially former President Joe Biden’s student loan relief efforts.
He won a seat in Maine’s Second Congressional District for less than 1% in 2024, and Trump carried the district 10%.
He said Wednesday he was “pleased” that Trump’s tariff plans lined up with his own ideas about universal taxes on foreign goods.
“I want to work with the President to fix the broken “free trade” system across the nation, a manufacturing community that has enriched but ruined multinationals. However, tariffs need to be combined with policies that prioritize the prosperity of American families. ”
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House Democrat Jared Golden, left, and former President Joe Biden. (Getty Images)
However, he pointed out that Trump “introduced many new tariff policies” along with a 10% universal tax, and he pointed out that he needed time to review the policies in detail before putting pressure on them.
Trump’s plan includes a comprehensive 10% tariff on all imports into the United States, and nearly 50% mutual tariffs on both enemies and allies.
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Golden added, “We need to make sure that a new approach will benefit people working. It means supporting unions, trade and apprenticeship programs, regulations that will curb production, and supporting domestic manufacturers who will unleash American energy and use tariff revenues to create good-paying jobs for Americans.”
“Taxes are the first step to rewrite the equipped trading system, but they cannot become the final trading system.”
Elizabeth Elkind is the main reporter of Fox News Digital’s reporting in the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen on Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow me on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to Elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
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