President Trump is switching up his messaging on the economy amid growing concern from voters and even fellow Republicans about his trade agenda.

After months of expressing unabashed confidence in his plans to impose sweeping tariffs, Trump is acknowledging the pain the U.S. economy may face under steep import taxes.

The latest economic blow to Trump came through Wednesday's disappointing report on economic growth, which fell sharply in the first quarter due to a surge of imports ahead of the president's tariffs.

While Trump and his top economic officials touted the strength of other areas of the economy and brushed off the tariff impact, the president also attempted to blame the decline on former President Biden.

Trump conceded that tariffs could push up prices and potentially lead to goods shortages, urging business leaders Wednesday to be patient with him and acknowledging that American consumers might just have to grin and bear it.

“Somebody said, ‘Oh, the shelves are going to be open.’ Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know. And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally,” he said during a Wednesday Cabinet meeting.

Trump’s tariff comments run counter to his previous positions on their economic effects and represent a departure from his pledge to lower costs following the highest levels of inflation in 40 years.

“Tariffs don’t cause inflation. They cause success,” Trump said earlier this year when announcing 25-percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada that the administration later halted.

Trump’s new tone assumes that consumers will support the tariffs despite their price effects, a point that the president has acknowledged in the past.

“There could be some temporary, short-term........

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