#TariffsPause Trump temporarily suspends tariffs

(CNN) -- President Donald Trump's surprising decision to backtrack on his comprehensive tariff plan, by announcing a suspension for 3 months, revealed his ability to endure political pain: one week.

On Wednesday, Trump commented on the increasing criticisms that have rained down on the White House over the past week: "They were screaming, they were screaming a little, and feeling a little scared."

Even for a president known for his political volatility, his announcement on Wednesday to suspend the long-awaited reciprocal tariffs for 3 months is a stunning reversal from a plan he seemed to fully support just a day earlier, and this came at a time when his trade representative was testifying on Capitol Hill about the benefits of the tariffs, seemingly unaware of the suspension decision.

It appears that days of pressure from his Republican colleagues, business leaders, and even close friends did not sway Trump, who insisted last week that "my policies will never change."

But by Wednesday, it was clear that the campaign to persuade Trump to change course would not quiet down as it turned out, after a sharp sell-off in the U.S. government bond markets, which are usually a safe haven for investors, that the economic repercussions of Trump's strategy could be catastrophic and worse than expected.