--- title: President Trump Calls Koch Brothers 'Total Joke' Over Trade description: President Donald Trump attacked the billionaire Koch brothers, calling the businessmen and longtime conservative activists a "total joke." canonical: https://time.com/5353740/trump-koch-brothers/ author: Siobhan Morrin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-31T12:29:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:15.543Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Calls Koch Brothers Total Joke' Amid Their Criticisms og:description: The powerful conservative donors have been critical of Trump's trade war og:url: https://time.com/5353740/trump-koch-brothers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt331844fbc0c2460c/698936ac22fb853aa8e264db/gettyimages-1007907282.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: donald-trump-white-house og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Calls Koch Brothers Total Joke' Amid Their Criticisms twitter:description: The powerful conservative donors have been critical of Trump's trade war twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt331844fbc0c2460c/698936ac22fb853aa8e264db/gettyimages-1007907282.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Calls Koch Brothers a 'Total Joke' As They Attack His Trade Policies > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: President Trump Discusses Tariff's at Veterans Convention [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Discusses Tariff's at Veterans Convention](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YNtb3ewp.m3u8) (1:50)  _Published 2018-07-24. The government announced a $12 billion plan Tuesday to assist farmers who have been hurt by President Donald Trump’s trade disputes with China and other trading partners._ by [Siobhan Morrin](https://time.com/author/siobhan-morrin/) ## Siobhan Morrin Jul 31, 2018 12:29 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing-in ceremony for Robert Wilkie to become Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, in the Oval Office at the White House, on July 30, 1018 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing-in ceremony for Robert Wilkie to become Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, in the Oval Office at the White House, on July 30, 1018 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Siobhan Morrin](https://time.com/author/siobhan-morrin/) ## Siobhan Morrin Jul 31, 2018 12:29 PM UTC President Donald Trump on Tuesday attacked the billionaire Koch brothers, calling the businessmen and longtime conservative activists a “total joke” and “two nice guys with bad ideas.” “They want to protect their companies outside the U.S. from being taxed, I’m for American first and the American worker — a puppet for no one,” Trump tweeted. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1024239166429769729) Trump’s criticisms come a day after Charles Koch told reporters that [Trump’s trade policies would be “disastrous.”](http://time.com/5352076/koch-network-donald-trump-seminar/) Meanwhile, the powerful Koch network of political donors said it would not back a Republican candidate in North Dakota who they view as insufficiently critical of Trump and his economic decisions. Charles and David Koch have poured millions of dollars into ads and advocacy over the years, typically for conservative candidates and causes. They backed Mitt Romney in 2012, but did not support either Trump nor his opponent, Hillary Clinton, in 2016\. David has now retired from the group. But in a rare interview with reporters on the sidelines of donor conference Monday, Charles discussed his dismay over the Trump administration’s moves on trade, spending and immigration, including Trump’s use of protectionist economic policies, including tariffs. “Any protectionism at any level, certainly at a national level, is very detrimental,” [Charles Koch told reporters](http://time.com/5352282/charles-koch-trade-war-disastrous/) at the event in Colorado Springs, Colo. “There are scientific and historical reasons. I mean, every nation that has prospered is one that didn’t engage in trade wars.” Charles Koch suggested that he would only back politicians who support a free trade, business-friendly agenda—even if that meant backing Democrats. That aligned with the announcement Monday by the Koch-backed group Americans for Prosperity that it would not back Republican Representative Kevin Cramer in North Dakota because of his support for a [$1.3 trillion spending bill](http://time.com/5212990/donald-trump-signs-spending-bill-shutdown-veto/) that increases funding for domestic and military programs, as well as his reticence in taking on the White House over tariffs. “If this were 2016, we likely would have gone ahead and endorsed,” Americans for Prosperity President Tim Philips [told backers Monday](https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/30/politics/koch-brothers-north-dakota-kevin-cramer/index.html), according to CNN. “But we’re raising the bar.” Trump’s policies on trade in particular have provoked ire among some Republicans, especially those in states most affected by retaliatory tariffs enacted by China, Canada, the European Union and beyond. The Trump administration announced last week a $12 billion spending plan to support farmers, particularly Midwestern soybean producers. On Monday, Freedom Partners, another Koch-backed organization, [released an ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6yPW0oWwcU) directly targeting farmers, asking them to reject Trump’s policies because farmers “want trade not aid.” **Disclosure:** _Time Inc., TIME’s parent company, was acquired by Meredith Corp. in a deal partially financed by Koch Equity Development, a subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5353740/trump-koch-brothers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5353740/trump-koch-brothers/"},"headline":"President Trump Calls Koch Brothers a 'Total Joke' As They Attack His Trade Policies","datePublished":"2018-07-31T12:29:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:15.543Z","description":"The powerful conservative donors have been critical of Trump's trade war","url":"https://time.com/5353740/trump-koch-brothers/","keywords":["White House","Koch Brothers","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt331844fbc0c2460c/698936ac22fb853aa8e264db/gettyimages-1007907282.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Siobhan Morrin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/siobhan-morrin/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt331844fbc0c2460c/698936ac22fb853aa8e264db/gettyimages-1007907282.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"donald-trump-white-house","caption":"Trump Participates In Swearing In Of Robert Wilkie As Veterans Affairs Secretary","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5353740/trump-koch-brothers/","name":"President Trump Calls Koch Brothers a 'Total Joke' As They Attack His Trade Policies"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Discusses Tariff's at Veterans Convention","description":"The government announced a $12 billion plan Tuesday to assist farmers who have been hurt by President Donald Trump’s trade disputes with China and other trading partners.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/YNtb3ewp/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-07-24T19:44:49.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YNtb3ewp.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5353740/trump-koch-brothers/","duration":"PT1M50S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5353740/trump-koch-brothers/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```