Trump’s attention to Venezuela causes the White House to worry about his midterm strategy
White House officials fear that as voters prioritize domestic issues, Trump’s obsessive focus on Venezuela could hurt Republicans’ chances of winning the midterm election.
According to three people familiar with the situation, some Republican senators and White House officials are annoyed by President Donald Trump’s obsession on the blatant US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and want him to address healthcare and economic issues in an election year.
Some friends worry that Trump’s obsessive focus on foreign policy will endanger the party’s precarious hold on Congress in November’s midterm elections, as Americans are unhappy with rising prices and Trump’s economic management, according to Reuters.
Two White House sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, claimed that Trump is being pressured to prioritize domestic issues by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, her deputy James Blair, and Vice President JD Vance.
They claimed that Vance has been the most tenacious participant in meetings, frequently bringing up topics from the kitchen table.
According to one person, several senior White House aides are “openly frustrated” that Trump and many other high-ranking officials are still talking so much about foreign policy in the wake of last week’s operation in Venezuela. Given the high expenses of housing, food, and health insurance, many voters are still concerned about affordability even in the face of declining inflation.
In response to a request for comment, the White House stated that Trump’s foreign policy has “consistently put America First” and that he has always made the economy his main priority, citing his initiatives this week aimed at lowering housing prices.
According to spokesperson Anna Kelly, “the President will always work to bring investments and deliverables back to our country.”
Requests for comment were not answered by Wiles or Blair. Vance’s spokesperson declined to comment.
Trump’s emphasis on international policy predates the Venezuela operation, so worries about his priorities are not new. He has bombed targets in Syria and Nigeria, campaigned for peace between Russia and Ukraine, and made covert threats to invade Greenland and Panama in recent weeks.
However, the officials claim that as the administration approaches a crucial election year, when the White House had intended to move more forcefully toward domestic message and travel, the worries have become more pressing.
Trump, who ran on a platform of reducing inflation, recently said that the affordability debate is a Democratic “hoax.”
White House officials have shown him polling, surveys, and social media posts that highlight voters’ concerns about the cost of living and his handling of the economy in several economic-focused White House meetings since November. They have also urged him to concentrate his public remarks on economic issues, the officials said.
According to one official, Trump has argued that the economy is robust, cautioned that concentrating on it could fall into a Democratic trap to minimize his accomplishments, and insisted that rising inflation is a result of the actions of his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Republican senators flooded the White House with calls demanding that the “only country Trump should be running is the United States” following the President’s announcement on Saturday that the US will “run” Venezuela, according to one official.
