After Tuesday’s election results and low approval numbers for Republicans, allies are raising concerns that President Trump is too focused on foreign policy.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump is hosting Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary at the White House. Last night, he had dinner with Central Asian leaders and expanded the Abraham Accords. Earlier, he threatened strikes against Nigeria.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
This on the same week that the government shutdown became the longest ever, and election results suggest Trump’s edge on the economy is waning. It’s raising concerns among some of Trump’s allies that he’s spending too much time focused on the rest of the world and not enough at home.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez joins us now. So what’s this meeting with Orban about?
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Yeah. I mean, the meeting is expected to be about the war in Ukraine and pressing Hungary to stop buying Russian oil as a means to pressure Moscow to end the war. Though the concern is not about Orban specifically, but all the time and effort put on foreign policy. I mean, A, it’s not just one week. In the past month, Trump’s helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. He continues to threaten Venezuela. He’s trekked across Asia, struck a deal with China and even started to plan a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. It’s just a tremendous amount of foreign policy work.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And then the timing, too, because right now many Americans are struggling with the cost of living. I mean, some of Trump allies feel like he really needs to be talking more about the economy instead.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, and it’s not just about the election results, either, but also Trump’s low approval ratings. Stephen Bannon told Politico that Trump shouldn’t spend so much time on the Middle East and Ukraine and needs to pivot to the economy. Vivek Ramaswamy, a candidate for Ohio governor, said Republicans can’t mess around.
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VIVEK RAMASWAMY: Our side needs to focus on affordability. Make the American dream affordable. Bring down costs – electric costs, grocery costs, health care costs, and housing costs – and lay out how we’re going to do it.
ORDOÑEZ: And JD Vance, the vice president, while downplaying the Democrats’ victories, also said Republicans need to, quote, “focus on the home front.”
MARTÍNEZ: So people close to the president are asking for a pivot. Will he?
ORDOÑEZ: I mean, he’s talking a lot about the economy now. But he’s largely blaming allies in Congress – Republicans – for not touting his work.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The affordability is much better with the Republicans. The only problem is the Republicans don’t talk about it, and Republicans should start talking about it and use their heads.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. And the White House told me that there will be more of a focus on the home front and cited yesterday’s announcement on lowering drug prices. But they push back on the idea that his work overseas isn’t in U.S. interests, saying new trade deals, for example, brings money home, and killing drug traffickers keeps Americans safer.
MARTÍNEZ: Do you think, Franco, that all of this might be an issue for the midterms? They’re coming up in less than a year.
ORDOÑEZ: It probably will. I mean, I was talking with Jon McHenry, a Republican pollster, who said the economy is always going to be the most important issue for voters.
JON MCHENRY: People expect you to do well on foreign policy, but they expect you to do well on foreign policy while you’re also laser-focused on domestic issues. You know, the foreign policy is a kind of a nice-to-have, and the domestic policy is a must-have.
MARTÍNEZ: Franco, are Republicans nervous?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, McHenry also pointed to an NBC poll that shows two-thirds of Americans feel Trump has fallen short on the economy, which were similar numbers that former President Barack Obama had in 2010. And that year, Obama’s party lost 63 House seats in the midterm elections.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That’s NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Thanks a lot.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, A.
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