Republicans blast Trump's economic messaging: No more doll talk

Senate Republicans have a request for President Trump: Stop talking about dolls. 

Questions about tariffs and their economic impact have prompted Trump to argue that U.S. families need to be prepared to sacrifice during what he hopes is a temporary rough spot that leads to lasting prosperity. To illustrate that point, Trump has argued that instead of buying dozens of dolls for daughters, families only buy a couple as they grow more expensive due to the levies. 

While Republicans have been largely in lockstep behind the administration’s actions, the latest messaging has become a turn off. Many GOP lawmakers view it as counterproductive and fear Trump comes off as out of touch. 

“Everything that we need to do needs to be instructed by people who experienced scarcity, and that’s clearly the words of somebody that’s never experienced scarcity,” one Senate Republican said. “It’s not really sensitive to the circumstances of people that are struggling every day.” 

“It would be helpful to be more relatable,” the GOP member added. 

Trump’s initial comment came during a Cabinet meeting last week, surrounded by a number of multi-millionaires and one of the richest individuals in the world. And he has repeated at least three times since that Americans should become more comfortable with fewer things — at least in the interim.

“All I’m saying is that a young lady, a 10-year-old-girl, 9-year-old girl, 15-year-old-girl, doesn’t need 37 dolls,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, which came hours after he defended the comments in an interview with “Meet the Press.” “She could be very happy with two or three or four or five.” 

When a half-dozen GOP senators were asked about the remarks, none of them threw their full weight behind them. Some said that they understood Trump’s point to a certain degree or pointed to his “unique” style of communication.

However, several indicated they wished Trump would discontinue the line and use a different comparison that would better apply to middle-class Americans. 

“The thing that I admire about it is he is willing to acknowledge that tariffs may have a short-term consequence, but be believes in the long run, they’ll have a long-term benefit and he’s setting expectations at the family-table level,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told The Hill. “But he might be setting the expectations as a millionaire that may not translate to the family worker.” 

“I grew up the son of a rural electric lineman, and no one ever got 30 dolls, but if they got one it was a good Christmas. It may very well be that the illustrations fall a little bit flat with middle-class America,” Cramer said, adding that automobiles or a number of kitchen-table items would be better examples. “It’s unnecessary for sure.”

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), a member of GOP leadership, was more blunt.

“He thinks it's a good example. I’m not sure it’s the best example,” she said.

Senate Republicans have maintained that Trump should receive a significant amount of deference on the tariff front, especially as trade and economic advisers attempt to hammer out dozens of agreements in the coming months. 

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said that Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, told Republicans last week that negotiations are underway with roughly 40 countries, with some potentially being finalized in the coming weeks. 

That has stopped most members from publicly opposing the tariffs no matter how squeamish they might be behind closed doors. 

The biggest of them all, however, seems nowhere close to a resolution as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Senate appropriators on Tuesday that talks have yet to start with China. Trump has slapped Beijing with a 145 percent tariff that remains in place, unlike most that were levied on “Liberation Day” early last month. 

It’s that tariff that could largely lead to empty shelves, which Trump was referring to with the doll comments. 

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), one of Trump’s foremost critics on his sweeping levies, also heavily criticized the comparison and said that it comes off like government controls. 

“How many dolls you have is up to the people who buy them, not up to the president,” said Paul, the libertarian-leaning member. “When you start listening to people talk about [tariff policy], it sounds like industrial policy and it sounds like the government choosing for you what is a good amount of things to buy.”

“I don’t care if you have four TVs in your house or one TV or no TVs. It’s none of my business,” he continued. “But for the government to tell you you shouldn’t have so many TVs, that sounds like big brother.”

But on top of the practical concerns of a potential economic dip, there are political ones that Republicans remain worried about as they try to keep everyone on board with the tax cut effort in the coming months and into the 2026 midterm cycle. 

“Telling people they’ll get less and pay more doesn’t strike me as a winning message,” one Senate GOP aide said curtly.