Republicans are waiting for President Donald Trump to take a more active role in helping them maintain their congressional majorities — and some sense he doesn’t seem to care, according to a report.
The 79-year-old president has amassed a $300 million midterm war chest, but the GOP campaign committee and super PACs still don’t know how he plans to allocate those funds — while would-be donors wait for his endorsements for Senate primaries in Georgia and Texas, according to the Washington Post.
And sources told the newspaper they’re worried that Trump doesn’t seem especially engaged in November’s midterms.
“People who have spoken with Trump about these obstacles said he at times can sound detached and noncommittal about his plans for spending and endorsements,” the Post reported. “One person close to the White House said some days the president seems not to care.
“Having already been impeached twice and indicted four times, Trump is less afraid of being impeached again than he is determined not to let a Democratic-controlled House halt his policy agenda, a White House official said.”
A White House official insisted the president intended to get more involved in midterm strategy and will hit the road later this month, including at a campaign-style event this week.
Two sources told the Post an Oval Office meeting to discuss House endorsements turned to what the newspaper described as a “five-hour gabfest.”
“We’ll spend whatever it takes,” the person recalled Trump saying. “Go get it done.”
Trump is concerned about the decades-long trend of the president’s party losing seats in Congress in the midterms, and one of those sources said he intends to defy that tendency — despite some gathering headwinds blowing against GOP chances.
But his lack of action have stirred up fears that he’s not as committed as he says.
“Republicans are anxiously awaiting a clear picture of the Trump team’s plans as the president’s sagging approval ratings and Democratic overperformances in special elections have darkened the GOP’s outlook for November’s midterms,” the Post reported.
“Most Republicans are not ready to criticize Trump in public. But privately, there is rising frustration with an apparent lack of urgency from Trump and his staff.”
Republicans have been lobbying Trump to endorse Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in his GOP primary against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX), but he has so far been noncommittal, and Republicans are also waiting for him to clear the field in Georgia. Some are frustrated that he endorsed a challenger to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
“I do think it’s a real problem when Senate Leadership Fund is on record supporting Cornyn and Cassidy, and President Trump is either silent or in opposition,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who is not seeking re-election. “We’re literally going to have Republican-on-Republican money being spent and that makes no sense leading up to a general [election] where we’re going to have headwinds.”
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