Bernie Sanders says he'll work with Trump on trade, while some GOPers wary

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said on Monday that he'd gladly work with President Donald Trump on trade issues when they see eye to eye.

"Now is the time to develop a new trade policy that helps working families, not just multi-national corporations," Sanders said in a statement. "If President Trump is serious about a new policy to help American workers then I would be delighted to work with him."

Sanders lauded the president's executive order beginning the process of withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and celebrated that the proposed pact was "dead and gone," at least in terms of U.S. membership.

Sanders was joined in his approval by many Democrats from industrial states that Trump carried in the election.

"I support President Trump's issuing of an executive orders that will pull the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and his recent steps to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)," said Sen. Robert Casey Jr., D-Pa.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., tweeted that "withdrawing from #TPP & moving to renegotiate #NAFTA are good 1st steps from @POTUS" but noted that this action alone was not good enough, and that "more must be done" for the president to keep his word to workers.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., gave even less credit to Trump than Baldwin, arguing that "TPP was dead long before President Trump took office." Schumer is the Senate Minority Leader.

Trump walks a fine line on this issue, and assuredly won't be able to please everyone. Some GOP leaders in the Senate responded to the TPP withdrawal and NAFTA negotiation announcement with caution and concern about future trade moves.

"I don't see any benefit in trying to crawl back into our shell as a country," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas and the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, told CNN. "We won't benefit economically, we're obviously next door to Mexico, as I frequently tell my friends in Mexico, we can't get a divorce. We need to figure out how to make this marriage work."

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Monday that "I think we ought to stay in NAFTA."

But it remains to be seen what course specifically the president will take in the renegotiations. Trump has previously called the deal a "disaster" and said he would "break it" if it can't be reworked on favorable terms. The Mexican economy minister said on Tuesday that Mexico was likewise prepared to leave the agreement if a decent deal can't be hashed out.