Mike Pence criticizes Trump on tariffs and key foreign policy issues as he watches from afar

Former Vice President Mike Pence criticized President Donald Trump’s approach to tariffs, as well as several foreign policy initiatives, in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” airing Sunday.

Former Vice President Mike Pence criticized President Donald Trump’s approach to tariffs, as well as several foreign policy initiatives, in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” airing Sunday.

“The initial reciprocal tariffs that he unveiled would be the largest peacetime tax hike on the American people in the history of this country,” Pence told moderator Kristen Welker, referring to the sweeping tariffs Trump imposed on the United States’ largest trading partners in early April.

Days later, the president paused most of the tariffs, a move that Pence on Friday said he was “glad” to see.

The interview covered a wide range of topics — and Pence opened with broad praise for the second Trump administration, applauding the president for having “secured the southern border in a historic way” and ordering military action against the Houthis in Yemen, among other things.

“But in the midst of all of that, I have seen some departure from the policies of our administration both at home and abroad,” Pence noted. He mentioned “wavering support” for Ukraine in the first 100 days of Trump’s second term and criticized one potential vision for a nuclear deal with Iran. And he was especially critical of Trump’s tariffs.