Trump, on Saturday, announced 25% tariffs on the countries to “protect Americans” and squeeze the United States’s neighbors into reinforcing their borders. The tariffs come despite a sweeping worry that they will increase consumer prices, which Trump has acknowledged.

“It will drive the cost of everything up,” McConnell told 60 Minutes on Sunday. “In other words, it will be paid for by American consumers. I mean, why would you want to get in a fight with your allies over this?”

Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Monday morning the tariffs would be paused for one month after she agreed to place 10,000 national guard troops along the border between the two countries.

The former Senate majority leader has been more outspoken since relinquishing his leadership position to Sen. John Thune (R-SD). McConnell voted against Trump Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, going against all Senate Republicans except Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME).

He is also likely to oppose Department of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has espoused anti-vaccine views in recent years. McConnell is a polio survivor and has touted the polio vaccine’s effectiveness.

McConnell also suggested during the interview that he opposes the administration’s foreign policy stance, which skews isolationist.

“America First — that was what they used in the ’30s,” McConnell said. “And I’m hopeful the new administration will understand and act, not with just language that says America First, but funding that underscores the nature of the threat. Look, what is the situation? North Korea, China, Russia, Iran. This is a huge threat, a fight between the autocrats and the democracies. And when it comes to the democratic world, only one country can lead, that’s us.”

“I think it’s dangerous to step aside and assume that by speaking to autocrats, they will somehow treat you better,” he added.

Before blasting Trump’s tariffs and the nation’s foreign policy situation, McConnell admitted that relinquishing his leadership position would leave him open to be “more outspoken about things that I particularly care about than I have been in the past.”

McConnell has made it clear that he’s opposed to tariffs in the past.

“I’m not a fan of tariffs. They raise the prices for American consumers. I’m more of a free-trade kind of Republican that remembers how many jobs are created by the exports that we engage in. So, I’m not a tariff fan,” McConnell said in September.

Canada and Mexico have issued retaliatory tariffs, with some set to hit Kentucky-made bourbon and Kentucky-made peanut butter originating from manufacturer Jif. Both countries have raised significant concerns about the tariffs.

“The actions taken today by the White House split us apart instead of bringing us together,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, announcing the retaliatory tariffs.

Trump said in a Truth Social Post Sunday that the tariffs will be worth the “price that must be paid.”

“This will be the Golden Age of America!” Trump said. “Will there be some pain? Yes, maybe (and maybe not!). But we will make America great again, and it will all be worth the price that must be paid. We are a country that is now being run with common sense — and the results will be spectacular!!!”

The president said he spoke to Trudeau on Monday morning and will be speaking to him again at 3 p.m.