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Bloomberg

The conservative political network led by billionaire Charles Koch opened a conference in Colorado with sharp criticism of US President Donald Trump’s trade policies and leadership style, as it sought to demonstrate a desire for more bipartisan solutions.
“The policies right now are hurting people,” Brian Hooks, president of the Charles Koch Foundation and Charles Koch Institute, told reporters Saturday.
“But they’re also doing very long-term damage to the country.”
Hooks, who also serves as co-chairman of the semi-annual donor gatherings that are formally called the Seminar Network, also specifically called out Trump’s no-compromise style.
“The divisiveness of the White House is causing long-term damage,” he said.
“When in order to win on an issue, somebody else has to lose, it makes it very difficult to unite people to solve the challenges in this country.”
James Davis, a spokesman for the network, criticised the US$12 billion Trump has pledged in aid to farmers hurt by falling commodity prices triggered by the president’s expanding trade war with China, Canada and other countries that are significant purchasers of US pork, soybeans and other agricultural products.
“It’s a bailout of bad policy,” Davis said.

The network, like many traditional Republican groups, has long opposed protectionism and promoted the benefits of free trade.
Charles and brother David Koch didn’t support Trump in the 2016 campaign, but the network they built has since praised his efforts to cut taxes and regulations.
The criticism of Trump came as more than 500 donors to the Koch network gathered for a three-day meeting at a luxury resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The network, with more than 700 donors who give at least US$100,000 per year, has convened such gatherings twice annually since 2003.
“We’ve made more progress in the last five years than I did in the previous 50,” Charles Koch told the donors at a welcome reception.
He stressed that he’s not slowing in his efforts to change the nation.
“I am not getting weak in the knees,” the 82-year-old said.


In June, the network said it was planning a “multi-year, multimillion-dollar” campaign to promote free trade and oppose Trump’s moves to impose tariffs on billions of dollars worth of imports from China and elsewhere. The effort is to include advertising, voter mobilisation and lobbying.
At least in the initial hours of the gathering, the network sought to play down its role in this year’s midterm congressional campaign, even as ads paid for by the network have hammered Democrats in battleground states in recent months.
Planned spending on campaign-associated activities was prominent when the network last assembled in January.
Since then, analysts and polling have increasingly suggested Democrats have a good chance of winning control of the US House in November’s midterm elections. The party needs a net gain of 23 seats to do that.
“We’ve shown that we can work productively with both parties,” Davis said, pointing to work the network has done with Democrats and Republicans in criminal justice reform and other issues.
“We need to earn some trust and show that we’re going to do the right thing,” he added.
“We will be able to build these really broad policy coalitions.”
Plans call for the network to spend about US$400 million on state and federal policy and politics during the two-year cycle that culminates with November’s balloting, a 60 per cent increase over 2015-16. In addition to trying to influence electoral politics, the network also works on education, criminal justice, workforce and poverty issues.


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US-China trade war

Koch network says Donald Trump’s trade tariffs are causing long-term damage

The conservative political network led by billionaire Charles Koch opened a conference in Colorado with sharp criticism of US President Donald Trump’s trade policies and leadership style. Photo: AFP

This combination of 2013 and 2012 file photos shows brothers David, left, and Charles Koch. In July 2018, an estimated 500 Koch donors _ each having committed at least $100,000 annually _ gathered in the mountains of Colorado for an invitation-only “seminar” that featured a handful of elected officials and high-profile influencers. The conservative network remains one of the nation’s most influential political forces. (Phelan M. Ebenhack, Bo Rader/The Wichita Eagle via AP)

Trump gets his big moment to boast about trade war

As President Donald Trump continues to argue that the strong economy and stock market offer him leeway to press his aggressive approach, his trade battles could wind up slowing an economy that is among the GOP’s strongest selling points to voters. Photo: AFP

China has no idea how to play Trump, and is doing what it always does when it smells trouble

China's President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo: TNS

CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 20: A delegates holds up signs that read "Make America First Again" during the opening of the third day of the Republican National Convention on July 20, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump received the number of votes needed to secure the party's nomination. An estimated 50,000 people are expected in Cleveland, including hundreds of protesters and members of the media. The four-day Republican National Convention kicked off on July 18. John Moore/Getty Images/AFP

Photo: AFP

This photo taken on July 13, 2018 shows Chinese employees sewing US flags at a factory in Fuyang in China's eastern Anhui province. As the Sino-US trade war rages, a factory set amid corn and mulberry fields in central China stitches together US and "Trump 2020" flags -- and business is good. / AFP PHOTO / - / China OUT

epaselect epa06880237 A container ships sails in the East Lamma Channel on his way to Hong Kong in Hong Kong, 11 July 2018. According to reports, Hong Kong's finance minister Paul Chan said the short-term impact on the city of China's escalating trade war with the United States would be limited to a dip in growth of just 0.1 or 0.2 of a percentage point. According to reports, US President Donald Trump announced on 10 July that US is preparing to impose 10 percent tariffs worth 200 billion US dollars on imported goods from China. EPA-EFE/JEROME FAVRE

A man waits for the goods to be load on his tricycle at a dealer selling imported seafoods at the Jingshen seafood market in Beijing, Thursday, July 12, 2018. China's government vowed on Wednesday to take "firm and forceful measures" as the U.S. threatened to expand tariffs to thousands of Chinese imports like fish sticks, apples and French doors, the latest salvo in an escalating trade dispute that threatens to chill global economic growth. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Koch network says Donald Trump’s trade tariffs are causing long-term damage

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}‘The divisiveness of the White House is causing long-term damage’

‘The divisiveness of the White House is causing long-term damage’