GEOFF BENNETT: President Donald Trump is just hours away from addressing a joint session of Congress, where he's expected to tout his administration's accomplishments and lay out his agenda for the rest of the year.

AMNA NAWAZ: But, as we have been discussing, his high-profile speech comes at a delicate time, on day one of a new trade war he started with America's top trading partners and as Europe is scrambling to fill the void in aid for Ukraine now that Trump has ordered an end to U.S. military support.

GEOFF BENNETT: Let's turn now to Capitol Hill.

We will hear from lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.

First up is Senator Eric Schmitt, a Republican from Missouri.

Welcome back to the "News Hour," sir.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT (R-MO): Great to be with you guys.

GEOFF BENNETT: So let's start with the tariffs, President Trump's decision to slap major tariffs on Mexico and Canada.

He's doubling the tariffs on Chinese imports.

It's a move that has a lot of Americans nervous that's certainly reflected in the markets.

At a time when Americans are still grappling with high housing prices, high grocery prices, inflation is as stubborn as it is, why is a trade war the right approach right now?

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Well, I think you want to look at these things in two separate buckets.

As it relates to China, President Trump did this in his first term.

We didn't see inflation.

We tried to rebalance the scales a little bit, and we saw record wage growth among every demographic in the country.

And so we were doing quite well when those tariffs went in place.

And, by the way, Joe Biden kept them in place.

And as it relates to Canada and Mexico, this is really about getting them to deal seriously with not just illegal immigration at our southern border and our northern border, but also as it relates to fentanyl.

And people might dismiss the idea that the northern border is that much of a problem, but the truth of the matter is, we have seen a 2000 percent increase in the last year, and enough fentanyl crosses our northern border to kill about 9.8 million Americans each and every year.

So it's a serious challenge.

And I think that's what this is about.

And my hope is that Canada and Mexico will actually come to the table on this.

I think you're also, though, by the way, seeing some indications that companies are taking notice of this.

You see Honda is now going to be building a manufacturing plant in the United States.

Mercedes-Benz is also looking to do this.

So I think there's some benefit to this.

But at the end of the day, this is about us being treated fairly from an economic perspective, and then also dealing with this, the fentanyl that's streaming across our borders.

GEOFF BENNETT: Canada and Mexico aren't just America's biggest trading partners.

They're also Missouri's biggest trading partners.

You have got a really active agriculture and manufacturing industry there.

A lot of jobs depend on those industries... SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Yes.

GEOFF BENNETT: ... as do a lot of grocery bills.

What have you heard from your constituents in the lead-up to today about their concerns about the potential impact?

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: I think people just want us to be treated fairly.

So when you look at a lot of these reciprocal tariffs, right, they're -- we want to be treated the same way that they're being treated here.

And that's what this is about.

And for a very long time, including in Europe, they have been ripping us off.

You can't sell an American car, effectively, in Europe.

So I think it's also important to keep into context, like in President Trump's first term, that these sort of -- this trade policy is not in a vacuum.

When you have the idea of controlling government spending, which President Trump's talking about, I'm sure he's going to talk about in his speech tonight, and also unleashing domestic energy production, that's why you didn't see inflation.

But that's why you did see inflation under Joe Biden, which was, you saw a bunch of government spending.

The COVID spending was through the roof, and then also declaring war on domestic energy production rose the cost of everything at the grocery store.

So this is part of the process.

And I think that ultimately President Trump is going to stick up for Americans by saying, treat us fairly, lower your trade barriers, or we're going to treat you the same way you treat us.

GEOFF BENNETT: The CEO of Target said today that prices will likely go up as a result of these tariffs.

The CEO of Best Buy says price increases are, in his words, highly likely.

How much economic blowback can Republicans sustain either from the markets or from Americans when we start to see these prices go up?

Because tariffs are definitionally a tax.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Well, they didn't go - - I guess I'm going to keep telling you.

You want to -- obviously, you want to make this about rising costs.

Well, we saw that under Joe Biden when we didn't have this, right?

We have been treated very unfairly by a lot of our so-called allies.

And President Trump is trying to rebalance that.

So, ultimately, if we produce more energy and we cut government spending, OK, that is what drives inflation.

And people feel that in their pocketbooks.

That is what caused the price of everything to go up at the grocery store.

So I think people -- and you look at the polling numbers over the weekend -- President Trump has a record high approval rating, much higher than Joe Biden's was.

So I think the American people are ready for somebody that's going to stand up for them.

You look at the other policies that President Trump is taking on.

You -- in the lead-in, I heard you talking about the Democrats, all of them voting against banning transgender athletes from competing against women, men competing against women.

The Democrat Party is so out of step with where real America is on virtually every issue.

It's why they lost badly in November.

President Trump is doing all of the things he talked about on the campaign trail, including cutting government spending.

So if you look at the polling numbers, it just doesn't support the argument that people aren't happy with this.

They want somebody to come disrupt permanent Washington that just hasn't been working for working families.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, let's talk, if we can, in the time that remains about his polling numbers, because, according to a new PBS News./NPR/Marist poll, his job approval remains underwater.

He's got 49 percent disapproval and 54 percent of Americans say the country is moving in the wrong direction.

It's not exactly a reflection of the mandate that President Trump says he has, at least right now.What do you expect to hear from him tonight to help set a course going forward?

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: I think he's going to talk about the early successes that we have had.

You see a record low number of border crossings now because it turns out, if you have a president that actually enforces the laws that are on the books, you won't have mass migration like we saw over the last four years, where 15 to 20 million people came here illegally.

So that's an early success.

I think he's going to talk about what that looks like moving forward.

I think he's going to talk about the record investment.

In just the first month here, we have seen $1.7 trillion worth of investment, whether it's Apple, whether it's Mercedes-Benz, whether it's high-tech semiconductor chips, building those facilities here.

The signal is being sent out that America is a place where you can do business.

Now, we have got to extend those tax cuts.

That will be part of our job in Congress.

I think he's also going to talk about a change in direction on foreign policy, where the core interests of the United States of America will reign supreme.

Europe needs to step up a much more meaningful way for their own defense.

And we need to focus on the homeland and for China.

We're not abandoning anybody, but it's a realist's point of view.

And then I think he's going to talk about a return to common sense and just having some policies like getting rid of divisive DEI, which is inherently racist.

GEOFF BENNETT: All right, Senator Eric Schmitt, thanks again for your time.

We appreciate it.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT: Any time.