Article snippet: MORE moved closer Tuesday to an explosive confrontation with his own party over trade and immigration, two of the signature issues of his presidency. GOP senators offered White House officials a stern warning behind closed doors that the president should not move forward with his plan to impose tariffs on all Mexican imports starting Monday unless that country takes significant steps to curb illegal immigration. Trump, for his part, all but dared the GOP to try to stop him, saying at a press conference in London that he expected the tariffs to go into place as planned and that it would be “foolish” for Republicans to try to stop them. In public, Senate GOP leaders suggested cooler heads would prevail and that a public battle would be avoided. Asked about the possibility of the Senate voting to block Trump’s tariffs, Senate Majority Leader MORE (R-Ky.) told reporters, “we’re hoping that doesn’t happen.” But behind the scenes, Republicans including Sens. MORE (Colo.) spoke out against the tariffs during a closed caucus meeting attended by White House deputy counsel Patrick Philbin and Department of Justice officials. After the doors opened, Cruz told reporters “there was deep concern expressed in the lunch about the prospects of tariffs with Mexico.” Another GOP senator who attended the meeting and requested anonymity to speak candidly said: “I think it's fair to say … that every senator who spoke, and there were probably a half-dozen, generally had the same point ... Link to the full article to read more