Republicans remain hopeful that the Trump administration will stay on track. The President is not making it easy.
The faltering economy, high gas prices, a fight with the Pope and foreign policy setbacks — in Pakistan and Hungary — have left many White House aides frustrated as they try to navigate what was always going to be a difficult midterm year.
“Everything is made more difficult by the nonsense coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” said a Republican operative close to the White House.
Like others in this story, the man was granted anonymity to discuss political calculations.
The latest twist came Wednesday morning when President Donald Trump threatened to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell again during a friendly interview to highlight his success in lowering taxes for Americans, a promise that diverted attention from his more populist message and angered key senators who need the administration to confirm his nominee, Kevin Warsh, to replace Powell.
The administration had hoped that Wednesday, Tax Day, would be devoted to a simple message: Trump puts more money in Americans’ pockets. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant talked about the bigger refunds with Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler during a White House press briefing, and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett is sharing that message in Washington. But, not surprisingly, when Besant had to ask questions about Powell, Trump raised the issue, which spoiled the message.
“The path to victory runs through a consistent economic message,” said Brian Lanza, a senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 campaign. “Unfortunately, President Trump ignores the roadmap.”
Trump’s moves and fights are nothing new. But he has come at a very inconvenient time for the party which is hanging on by a very narrow margin in the Congress. Surveys show how Trump is handling the economy career low. A large number of Republicans do not support the war in Iran, and the White House spent part of Monday defending and then removing a meme of Trump as Jesus Christ, which enraged many MAGA warriors.
“I was surprised by the number of evangelicals who supported Trump who were willing to criticize him,” said Eric Erickson, a conservative radio host and an influential voice with evangelical voters at the center of the MAGA base. “Ultimately the problem is that as he becomes a lame duck, more and more people start to move on from him. If he wants people to be looking past him in 2028, he can’t keep doing things like this. It diminishes the ability to keep the focus on him and his policies because people eventually get tired of it. That’s bad for the midterms and bad for his ability to advance his agenda.” Is.”
Overall, a growing number of White House aides are resigned to losing the House and fear the Senate is also in play.
“Everyone is focused on doing everything we can to take over the Senate because people are so worried about it,” said a second GOP operative. “It’s crazy,” that there is now serious concern about the Senate, the operative said.
A White House spokesperson rejected the idea of ​​vague messaging and argued that the President would promote his economic accomplishments “in the coming months.”
White House spokesperson Kush Desai said, “President Trump has always been clear about the temporary disruptions resulting from Operation Epic Fury, but the United States remains on a solid economic path.”
RNC national press secretary Kiersten Pels said the midterms would be decided by the difference between “losses” from Trump and “four years of Joe Biden.”
“Voters remember record inflation, crushing rents and gas prices that made everyday life unaffordable,” Pels said. “While Democrats are repeating the same failed agenda, President Trump is delivering results, unleashing American energy, cutting taxes, raising wages, and rebuilding a strong economy.”
Republican strategist John Feehery said the midterms will be about what the president has done, not what he has said.
“Many of those policy choices have been very good,” he said. “Some haven’t been so great. Fighting with the Pope isn’t helpful today, but there’s still plenty of time before the election. And the Democrats have mostly been hostile to the church on basic issues like life and death. So we’ll see how it all plays out, but I’m not as negative as some other pundits.”
One advantage Republicans hope will help them overcome adversity is their huge war chest. The coalition of political groups supporting the president and Republican candidates has more than $375 million in its coffers.
But the election remains a tough one for the GOP. According to a new Politico poll conducted April 11 to 14, support for the war remains low, with only 38 percent of Americans supporting US military strikes on Iran. Half of all respondents believe Trump has spent too much time focusing on international affairs rather than domestic issues, including 20 percent of self-identified MAGA Trump voters. And more than half of respondents – 53 percent – ​​have a negative opinion of Trump.
A person close to the White House said, “People are a little concerned, because what did he do? He ran, we’re going to get rid of endless wars – and he’s not going to make endless wars, it’s not in his DNA.” “He knows it’s not in America’s interest. He was in favor of lowering gas prices.”
The president struck an optimistic tone Wednesday — perhaps marking a new effort to get back on economic track — saying the war is “very close” and reiterating his hope that gas prices will be “very low” over the medium term.
Megan Messerly and Maia Ward contributed to this report.
