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Faced with the possibility that the Republican Party is headed for a wipeout in the November midterms, White House insiders are attempting to head off a Friday announcement by President Donald Trump of new tariffs.

Trump is preparing to impose what the Financial Times is calling a "barrage" of fresh tariffs on dozens of countries this week, but his own advisers are urgently counseling him to step back from the brink, the outlet's report states. Senior officials worry that resurrecting his trade war—which delivered economic shocks and voter backlash in his first term—could prove "catastrophic" heading into elections Republicans are already struggling to win.

According to the report, "Behind the scenes, senior officials have been counseling the president to maintain stability with trading partners and honor the deals that Washington struck with them to reduce their tariffs in 2025, according to two people familiar with the matter.”

The timing is particularly fraught. Existing 10 percent tariffs adopted after a Supreme Court decision in February struck others down are set to expire Friday and some in the White House are engineering probes "of forced labor practices, allowing Trump to avoid using the emergency authorities knocked down by the Supreme Court."

The prospect of renewed tariffs collides with an already-deteriorating economic landscape. The escalating Iran conflict has roiled energy markets, pushing gas prices back above $4 per gallon. Voters are already furious about the cost of living and recent polling found two-thirds of Americans disapprove of how Trump is managing affordability.

Adding tariff hikes to soaring energy prices risks "inflaming voter frustration over the high cost of living," a sign that even Trump's own team recognizes the political danger, the report notes.

"This does not mean that tariff hikes are in the rear-view mirror," Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade official now at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told the Financial Times. "But it does suggest that a more cautious approach is now called for, particularly in the lead up to the midterm elections."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is facing mounting pressure from within the MAGA movement over the fate of Andrew and Tristan Tate, the manosphere influencers arrested last week on sex trafficking charges, according to a new report.

Rubio holds the authority to block or allow the Tate brothers' extradition to the United Kingdom — a decision that has become the focus of an increasingly vocal campaign from prominent figures on the right, The Bulwark reported Thursday.

Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ) has emerged as one of the most outspoken advocates for the brothers, according to the report.

Hamadeh described their prosecution in both the UK and Romania, where they have for years faced rape and sex trafficking allegations, as politicized "lawfare" and called on the Trump administration to refuse extradition of the dual American-British citizens.

Other right-wing figures, including podcaster Nick Fuentes and commentator Patrick Bet-David, have echoed similar defenses, with Bet-David going so far as to call the Tates an inspiration to fatherless children.

The pressure comes despite — or perhaps because of — a documented pattern of goodwill between the Tates and figures close to Trump, the Bulwark reported.

The brothers have reportedly had friendly exchanges with Barron Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and Trump-aligned official Ric Grenell reportedly engaged with Romanian officials during the years the Tates were barred from leaving that country, shortly before travel restrictions were lifted.

The Tates were also reportedly socializing with administration figures in Washington just days before their arrest.

At a press conference this week, Rubio declined to say whether the State Department would intervene, telling reporters he didn't see a role for the department "at this moment" and that he wouldn't "opine on something that's still working through a legal process."

That carefully hedged language has left open the possibility of future involvement, even as both Rubio and Trump are reportedly not currently planning to act on the brothers' behalf, the Bulwark reported.

Adding to the pressure, Tate attorney Joseph McBride — a MAGA-aligned lawyer who has also represented Jan. 6 defendants — has been amplifying supportive commentary from administration-adjacent figures online, including a tweet from GSA official Paul Ingrassia referencing the "presumption of innocence."