The network, helmed by billionaire Charles Koch (pictured), fired the warning shots after weeks of tension with the White House. | Patrick T. Fallon for The Washington Post via Getty Images Trump tariffs assailed at Koch network gathering

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Top officials from the powerful Koch network warned that President Donald Trump’s tariffs — and his divisive governing style — stand to create “long-term damage” to the country as donors assembled here to kick off their twice-yearly confab Saturday.

The network, helmed by billionaire Charles Koch, fired the warning shots after weeks of tension with the White House over Trump’s tariffs, which are in opposition to the Koch network's free-market worldview.


“The divisiveness of this White House is causing long-term damage,” said Brian Hooks, one of Charles Koch’s top deputies, during a briefing for reporters. “When in order to win on an issue someone else has to lose, it makes it very difficult to unite people and solve the problems in this country. You see that on trade: In order to get to a good place on trade, convince the American people that trade is bad.”

A video produced by the Koch network focuses on the dangers of anti-free-trade sentiment across the country. In it, Charles Koch warns that the current “rise in protectionism” represents “a natural tendency, but it’s a destructive one.” A failure to embrace innovation has “doomed many,” Koch warns, while images of shuttered Blockbuster video and Borders bookstores flash on the screen.

Koch leads the influential network, which consists of conservative donors who pay a minimum of $100,000 each year.

At their donor confab six months earlier, Koch officials had lavished praise on Trump and congressional Republicans for passing a tax-reform package, a long-term goal of Republican donors like the Kochs.

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This weekend, Hooks said there was a “lack of leadership” on trade and other issues that includes “the White House and a number of politicians who are following that lead.”

Koch officials called on Washington politicians to strike more bargains and build more coalitions across the aisle, which, they said, the Koch network is working to do on immigration and prison reform.

However, the Koch network is not changing its plans to spend $400 million during the 2018 midterms, officials said.

The gathering marks the first time donors are convening since David Koch left the network in June. Charles Koch, 82, joked to donors about his good health — and commitment to his conservative network — during a lakeside cocktail reception.

“In case I looked like I was weaker, I assure you: I am not getting weak in the knees,” he said.