Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey gently urged President Donald Trump to seek to calm the business community amid growing fallout from his global tariff standoffs.“I know that the president ran on this agenda, and he won on this agenda,” Ducey said during an appearance in Iowa Tuesday. “And I think it’s important that he communicates why he’s doing certain parts of the agenda, so that the consumer and consumer confidence, the small businessperson, business formation, isn’t slowed by some of the patch we’ll have to go through to get to the other side.”Speaking at the Common Sense Institute of Iowa’s “Free Enterprise Summit” with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Ducey’s words implied Trump’s tariffs aren’t helping the economy, at least for now.As the CEO of Citizens for Free Enterprise, Ducey’s words likely reflect a growing anxiety among business executives and investors as a sell-off on Wall Street continues.Even Reynolds, a fellow Republican, acknowledged, “I think it is going to be bumpy for a while.”The White House has sought to assure the public that Trump’s tariffs won’t dampen the U.S. economy, but the European Union has joined Canada with stepped-up retaliatory tariffs on American goods after Trump imposed new tariffs on steel and aluminum.The S&P 500, a broad measure of the stock market, had fallen 8% since Trump re-entered the White House in January, and some consumer staples, perhaps most notably, eggs, have soared in price in recent weeks.Inflation data released Wednesday showed a slower uptick in February prices than posted in January. Even so, Trump continues to threaten more tariffs, and traditional allies and trading partners continue to respond in kind.“If I had any counsel, it would be that businesses make decisions on predictability and reliability, and nothing’s more important than certainty here,” Ducey said at the event. “And I think we’ve seen a fluctuation in the markets.”Trump called Ducey after 2020 electionDucey, a two-term Republican, endorsed Trump in 2024, as he did in 2020. But their once-cordial relationship curdled after Ducey memorably declined a phone call from Trump as he signed the papers certifying former President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump.Trump had personally pressured Ducey to help overturn the state’s narrow win for Biden, the Washington Post has reported.Ducey once generated whispers of holding higher office, from a Cabinet post to joining a presidential ticket, but that speculation has faded, at least for now, as a second Trump administration is underway.Brianne Pfannenstiel of the Des Moines Register contributed to this report. …
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