The Washington Examiner’s Tiana Lowe Doescher argued that President-elect Donald Trump aims to secure the nation’s borders by “gambling” with his threat of tariffs toward the United States’s neighboring countries.

Trump announced he would impose a 25% tariff against Canada and Mexico on his first day in office until the two countries manage to stymie the flow of migrants and illegal narcotics into the United States, prompting Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to threaten her own tariffs against the U.S. Doescher, a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner, was asked if Trump risks losing support with these potential tariffs, to which she contended that tariffs threaten growth rather than risk inflation.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT TRUMP’S TARIFF THREAT AGAINST MEXICO AND CANADA 

“Really, what he’s doing is he’s gambling that this as a means to an end,” Doescher assessed on Fox News’s Your World with Neil Cavuto, guest-hosted by Edward Lawrence. “80% of all exports from Canada and Mexico go to the U.S. It’s about a fifth of the Canadian economy and almost an entire third of the Mexican economy. So, he knows that Mexico and Canada can’t just nuke between one-fifth and one-third of their entire economies. He’s just banking that they will crack down on the border crisis, specifically that fentanyl flow from Mexico and Canada, this flow of illegal immigration that’s up some 5000% from 2020.”

Doug Schoen, a former adviser to former President Bill Clinton, has also addressed this dilemma, predicting that Canada and Mexico will both “back down” going forward. He encouraged Democratic lawmakers to “cooperate” with the Trump administration where “common ground” can be found.

“And I would say what we need now is cooperation and consensus, not more political fighting,” Schoen said.

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Schoen’s comments came shortly after Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) revealed he would meet with incoming border czar Tom Homan, stating, “I think we can find a lot of common ground.” He added that while he does not see eye-to-eye on everything with Homan, he can agree on the need to “quickly” deport criminals.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is among the Democrats who have vocalized their opposition to Trump’s planned deportations, arguing his city would continue to be “welcoming.” Homan responded unfazed by Johnston’s claims, suggesting he is “willing to put him in jail.”