Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday took a shot at Democrats in Congress who have tied up a supplemental funding bill that would send humanitarian aid to the southern border. | Win McNamee/Getty Images Congress McConnell softens his tariff criticisms: 'You have to give the president credit — it worked'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell eased up on his criticism of President Donald Trump's threat to impose steep tariffs on imported goods from Mexico, saying Tuesday the president deserved applause for the way his brinkmanship worked out.

McConnell’s shift in tone comes as there remains an air of mystery surrounding the deal’s specifics and whether concessions made by Mexico were significant or came to fruition solely because of the tariff threat.


“They just can’t let the president have a win,” McConnell said in an interview on conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt’s show.

Trump would have faced a GOP revolt had negotiators not struck a deal late Friday to avert the tariffs from going into effect, with some senators warning that there was a veto-proof majority in the chamber willing to block the levies. McConnell made clear last week his conference opposed the move, but on Tuesday he contended that Trump came out on top in the standoff and cheered the president for how it all eventually played out.

“I think the cold, hard reality is, even though almost none of my members were enthusiastic about the prospect of tariffs, you have to give the president credit — it worked,” he said. The Kentucky Republican argued Trump’s threat to slap a 5 percent tax on Mexican imports if the country did not step up its efforts to address the influx of Central American migrants entering the U.S. “clearly got the government’s attention down there.”





“The president deserves applause — not condemnation — for the outcome, which has a good chance of solving this crisis at the border,” he said.

McConnell also took a shot at congressional Democrats who have tied up a supplemental funding bill that would send humanitarian aid to the southern border. That request from the White House was dropped from a long-needed disaster aid bill in the face of Democrats’ opposition.

“They need to step up because even The New York Times said give Trump the money,” McConnell said.

