Republicans worry White House ‘nonsense’ is hurting midterm prospects

Republicans keep hoping the Trump administration stays on track. The president isn’t making it easy.

A sputtering economy, high gas prices, a fight with the pope and a pair of foreign policy setbacks — in Pakistan and Hungary — have left many White House allies newly exasperated as they try to navigate what was always going to be a difficult midterm year.

“Everything is made more difficult by the nonsense coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” said a Republican operative close to the White House.

Like others in this story, the person was granted anonymity to discuss political calculations.

The latest diversion came Wednesday morning when President Donald Trump, during what was supposed to be a friendly interview to highlight his success in lowering taxes for Americans, threatened again to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell, a promise that diverted attention from his more populist message and angered key senators who the administration needs to confirm Kevin Warsh, his nominee to replace Powell.

The administration had hoped Wednesday, Tax Day, would be devoted to a simple message: Trump puts more money in Americans’ pockets. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke during the White House press briefing alongside Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler to tout larger refunds, and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett is sharing that message around Washington. But, not surprisingly, Bessent had to field questions about Powell, fodder from Trump that muddied the message.

“The road to victory runs through a consistent economic message,” said Bryan Lanza, a senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 campaign. “Unfortunately, President Trump ignores the road map.”

Trump’s weaves and fights are nothing new. But they come at an increasingly inconvenient time for a party clinging to razor-thin margins in Congress. Polls show Trump’s handling of the economy at career lows. A significant number of Republicans don't support the war in Iran, and the White House spent part of Monday defending and then deleting a meme of Trump as Jesus Christ that infuriated many MAGA warriors.

“I was surprised at the number of strong Trump supporting evangelicals who were willing to criticize him,” said Erick Erickson, a conservative radio host and an influential voice with evangelical voters central to the MAGA base. “The problem ultimately is as he becomes a lame duck more and more people start to move beyond him. If he wants to minimize people looking to 2028 past him, he can’t do stuff like this. It minimizes the ability to keep the focus on him and his policies as people finally get tired of it. That’s bad for the midterms and bad for his ability to advance his agenda."

Taken together, a growing number of White House allies are resigned to losing the House and fear that the Senate is also in play.

“Everyone is focused on doing what we can to hold the Senate because people are very worried about that,” said a second GOP operative. “It’s crazy,” that there is serious concern about the Senate now, the operative said.

A White House spokesperson pushed back on the idea of an unclear message and argued the president will tout his economic achievements “in the months ahead.”

“President Trump has always been clear about temporary disruptions as a result of Operation Epic Fury, but America remains on a solid economic trajectory,” said White House spokesperson Kush Desai.

RNC national press secretary Kiersten Pels said the midterms will be decided by a contrast between Trump and the “damage” from “four years of Joe Biden.”

“Voters remember record inflation, crushing rent, and gas prices that made everyday life unaffordable,” Pels said. “While Democrats double down on the same failed agenda, President Trump is delivering results, unleashing American energy, cutting taxes, raising wages, and rebuilding a strong economy.”

John Feehery, a Republican strategist, said the midterms are going to be about what the president has done, not what he has said.

“Lots of those policy choices have been great,” he said. “Some have been not so great. Picking fights with the pope [is] not helpful today, but the election is a long time away. And the Democrats have been mostly hostile to the church on basic issues like life and death. So we will see how this all plays out, but I am not as negative as some other pundits out there.”

One advantage Republicans hope will help them overcome the headwinds is their massive war chest. The coalition of political groups supporting the president and Republican candidates has more than $375 million in its coffers.

But the polls continue to be rough for the GOP. Support for the war remains low, with just 38 percent of Americans backing the U.S.'s military strikes on Iran, according to a new POLITICO Poll conducted April 11 to 14. Nearly half of all respondents think Trump has spent too much time focusing on international affairs instead of on 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.

“People are a little bit worried, because what did he do? He ran on, we're going to get rid of the endless wars — and he's not going to do an endless war, it’s not in his DNA,” said a person close to the White House. “He knows it’s not in America’s best interest. He ran on lowering gas prices.”

The president on Wednesday struck an optimistic tone — perhaps a new effort to get back on the economic track — saying the war is “very close to over” and reiterating his hope that gas prices would be “much lower” by the midterms.

Megan Messerly and Myah Ward contributed to this report.