Analysis by Summer Lane | Photo: Alamy
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate approved a resolution seeking to repeal the fentanyl-related emergency declaration that has allowed President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Canadian imports.
The political sideswipe was purely symbolic, and it proved, once again, that the president was right: opponents to America First success will be doing a lot of complaining in the coming weeks.
“In the coming days, there will be complaints from the globalists, the outsourcers, special interests, and Fake News… Never forget that every prediction our opponents made about trade for the last 30 years has been proven totally wrong,” he said on Wednesday, during a special event at the White House Rose Garden celebrating the implementation of his tariffs.
He added, “They were wrong about NAFTA, they were wrong about China, they were wrong about the Trans Pacific Partnership… In my first term, they said tariffs would crash the economy. Instead, we built the greatest economy in the history of the world.”
Per Fox News, the Senate’s resolution was passed 51-48, with four Republicans joining Democrats to push it through: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine), Rand Paul (Ky.), and Mitch McConnell (Ky.).
President Trump shared his thoughts about the political move from the Senate on Tuesday, writing on Truth Social, “The Senate Bill is just a ploy of the Dems to show and expose the weakness of certain Republicans, namely these four, in that it is not going anywhere because the House will never approve it and I, as your President, will never sign it.”
The resolution was a symbolic retaliation against the president’s strong America First policies, but it is very unlikely to survive in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, where Republican Speaker Mike Johnson (La.) oversees a slim GOP majority.
It seems that the purpose of the resolution was purely to make headlines and stir the political pot on mainstream airwaves.
Trump slammed Democrats and Republicans alike for refusing to hold Canada accountable for the horrific flow of fentanyl into the United States through the border. He wrote, “Why are they allowing Fentanyl to pour into our Country unchecked, and without penalty. What is wrong with them, other than suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, commonly known as TDS? Who can want this to happen to our beautiful families, and why?”
It’s a fair question. Fentanyl has become a massive scourge in America, and as far back as 2021, under the Biden administration, it was the leading cause of death for Americans between 18 and 45, as reported by RSBN.
President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on all countries began on April 2, but his tariffs against Canada began much sooner, and were a direct response to the drug crisis, which the president has squarely pinned on Canada, Mexico, and China.
Will the Senate’s resolution accomplish anything to stop President Trump’s tariffs? Probably not, but it does illustrate the importance of the 2026 midterms and how integral it will be to maintain a majority in the House if further anti-Trump legislation arises in the Senate.