Tag: Freedom Partners

President Trump on Tuesday lashed out at the Koch brothers, saying their conservative political network had "become a total joke in real Republican circles" and was "highly overrated” — deepening the divide between the GOP's donor class and its increasingly populist base at a crucial time, three months before the midterm election. Charles Koch, who now runs the family’s political network after the retirement of his brother David, who is ill, was somewhat more restrained, acknowledging that political polarization affected Washington and the country long before Trump entered the fray. "We've had divisiveness long before Trump became president and we'll have it long after he's no longer president," he told reporters Sunday. "I never sought their support because I don't need their money or bad ideas." Trump added that the Kochs "love" some of his policies, including tax cuts and conservative picks for federal courts. Although they have benefited from the administration's tax cuts and deregulation efforts, the Kochs oppose Trump's immigration and trade policies, especially tariffs. “If you’re running the country, you’re not really interested in a couple of billionaires -- whether it’s the Steyers on the left or Kochs on the right -- telling you, ‘We don’t really think you know what you’re doing,’” said the former administration official. “The interesting question is the extent to which the business community is going to start to be more actively opposed to Trump policies and this move by Charles Koch and his network could be a triggering mechanism,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of a left-leaning nonprofit group called Democracy 21, which has focused on Trump’s ethics and the role of big money in politics. Charles Koch and his network have the personal fortunes to push back against Trump, especially on trade and immigration, in a way that Republican lawmakers have so far been unwilling to do, Wertheimer said. While other business interests have pushed back against Trump’s trade policies, they have not done so as aggressively as Koch, he added.