4 days ago

How a slice of Trump's coalition is viewing his presidency: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, we bring you the findings from our new focus group of Black men who voted for Donald Trump in 2024. Plus, Trump withdraws Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination to be U.N. ambassador amid concerns over the GOP’s narrow House majority. And Jonathan Allen sifts through the White House’s spin on the group chat episode.

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— Adam Wollner

Black men who backed Trump approve of his presidency — but raise some concerns about DOGE

By Bridget Bowman and Ben Kamisar

A new focus group with Black men who voted for Donald Trump in swing states in November showed that nearly all of them remain staunchly with him, but that the Department of Government Efficiency and his tariffs are potential pain points.

The group of 12 voters — who participated in a recent focus group observed by NBC News as part of the 2025 Deciders series, produced by Syracuse University and the research firms Engagious and Sago — included six independents, four Democrats and two Republicans. Ten of them stood by their 2024 vote, with the remaining two saying they wouldn’t vote for Trump again if given a do-over.

DOGE: The results were far more mixed when it came to Elon Musk and DOGE. Five said they approved of DOGE’s actions, three said they disapproved and the rest weren’t sure yet.

Among those backing DOGE, the spending audits and cuts were seen as bringing a bit of the private sector to government work, aimed at increasing efficiency of employees paid by taxpayer money.

“Every company needs someone to audit them. You shouldn’t be an untouchable, you shouldn’t be a sacred cow,” said Dorris S., a 56-year-old independent from Pennsylvania. “They’re there to maximize productivity and efficiency. I used to manage restaurants, we had health inspectors.”

Meanwhile, Thomas A., a 49-year-old Democrat from Georgia who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and switched to Trump in 2024, said that while DOGE is doing “some good,” he’s concerned about the power Trump has delegated to Musk. He also wondered if DOGE’s work could be antithetical to a push to improve the economy and help everyday Americans.

“He’s too focused on cutting the weeds and the clutter, but he needs to focus on the economy and how to help people,” he said of Trump.

Tariffs: Only three out of 12 participants affirmatively said Trump is making battling inflation a top priority, with those who said so largely connecting it to his threats to enact sweeping tariffs or cut government spending. The two voters who disapproved of Trump after voting for him both raised concerns about tariffs.

Democrats: Still, this group of voters was down on the Democrats, using words such as “liars,” “untrustworthy,” “ungodly,” “a weird agenda” and “weak” to describe the party today.

What to know from the Trump presidency today

Trump pulled the nomination of Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, citing concerns about the House’s slim margin to enact his legislative agenda. Stefanik will remain in Congress, where Speaker Mike Johnson said she would have an unspecified leadership role.
A federal judge ordered Trump administration agencies involved in a group chat on an attack on Yemen to “preserve all Signal communications between March 11 and March 15.”
Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., the chair and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, formally requested the Defense Department’s acting inspector general to launch an investigation into the leaked Signal chat about U.S. military strikes in Yemen.
Trump threatened to place “far larger” tariffs on the European Union and Canada than planned if they work together to retaliate in response to his tariffs.

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Sifting through the White House spin on the leaked Signal chat

Analysis by Jonathan Allen

In the days since Trump administration officials saw a group chat go public, the White House and its allies have worked hard to spin the sins.

Trump has attacked the journalist who was apparently inadvertently included in the Signal thread, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg. And the president’s amplifiers have suggested the fault lies with the National Security Council for letting Goldberg in.

This telling puts National Security Adviser Mike Waltz on the hot seat — absolving the rest of the senior officials in the chat — and diverts attention from the most alarming aspects of the episode.

The White House would like to gloss over that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared military operation plans against the Houthis outside of secure government communications systems.

Similarly, Trump’s team would prefer if no attention was paid to the fact that several Cabinet secretaries, the White House chief of staff and a White House deputy chief of staff appeared to have chosen not to object to using a commercial app that allows users to delete messages.

Administration officials note that the strikes against the Houthis were successful, as though arriving home safely is a justification for reckless driving.

White House officials and Attorney General Pam Bondi have insisted that none of the information was classified. That’s also a distraction. Even if the information was classified, there’s no world in which the White House would admit all of those people would be careless with this information. It’s also irrelevant as a practical matter because Bondi would never prosecute department and agency leaders.

None of these excuses serve Trump well. They don’t make him look stronger or more committed to national security.

As NBC News reported Wednesday, it’s not just Democrats calling on Trump to fire someone. There are MAGA Republicans who think Trump should find someone to take the fall. If he doesn’t, that risks leaving a stain on him. And there’s no spinning out of that.

Related reads:

Timeline: The Trump administration’s shifting stance on the Signal chat debacle, by Alexandra Bacallao and Alexandra Marquez

A DHS staffer faces serious punishment for accidentally adding a reporter to a group email, by Julia Ainsley

🗞️ Today’s other top stories

🗳️ National implications: The Wisconsin Supreme Court race is emerging as the first big test of Democrats’ anti-Elon Musk playbook as the party searches for a winning message after its loss to Trump in November. Read more →
📞 On the line: Trump will hold two tele-town halls this evening for the two Republican candidates in next Tuesday’s special House elections in Florida. Read more →
🗣 'Uncle Sam needs you': New Politics, a group co-chaired by Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., focused on supporting candidates from service backgrounds, is launching a multimillion-dollar effort to recruit thousands of people to run for offices up and down the ballot over the next four years. Read more →
📧 Rolling back vote-by-mail: Utah Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill into law that will phase out the state’s universal mail balloting system. Voting rights advocates say it’s the first time a state has reversed such a policy. Read more →
💲 Tax math: Senators are expecting to receive a consequential decision from their in-house referee as early as next week that will shape whether Republicans can make President Donald Trump’s expiring tax cuts permanent. Read more →
🌧️ Rain or shine: At least 10 weather balloon launch sites have suspended or limited their routine balloon releases because of the Trump administration’s cuts to the National Weather Service staff, which experts say will reduce forecast quality. Read more →
👀 It's not easy being Greenland: Greenlanders say they’re preparing to receive Vice President JD Vance ahead of his planned trip with what they’re calling the “Arctic cold shoulder” amid Trump’s repeated calls to take over the mineral-rich island. Read more →