“There’s got to be a little apprehension about trade, and I would paint it this way: I’ve been asking for years for a president who would play brinkmanship, who is also an enigma,” Republican Rep. Steve King told the convention crowd. “Well, we elected Donald Trump, and I think we got both of those things.”

King then relayed assurances offered to him personally by Larry Kudlow, the White House’s chief economic adviser. “Give him time. Give him room,” King said. “We’re riding a tiger. I think it’s a little dangerous to try to get off.”

The Republicans’ patience with their president amid an escalating trade war is as remarkable as it is politically perilous in an agricultural swing state that has historically held a deep disdain for trade meddling.