President Trump has absorbed a series of rebukes in recent days, including two from his own appointees that left him fuming. Taken together, the reversals carry real costs in political capital that go beyond a bruised ego.
In a span of three days, the Justice Department dropped a marquee case of alleged vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Mr. Trump’s attorney general nominee scrapped his $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, and then the president pulled back on his threat to launch the “biggest attack since World War II” on Iran in favor of peace talks, though Tehran said talks are not happening.
The setbacks raise questions about how much leverage Mr. Trump has with lawmakers and the American public ahead of the midterm elections in November. If Republicans lose control of Congress, Mr. Trump’s agenda would stall and his administration would be buried in an avalanche of Democrat-led congressional investigations.
“It has been a rough few days for the president,” said Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “The risk is that it creates a narrative that he doesn’t know what he’s doing or his administration is pursuing activities that are not well thought out. If this stuff piles up, it’s a huge problem in November.”
Mr. West said voters will blame Republicans on the ballot if they are unhappy with the president or have “general unhappiness.”
The White House dismissed the recent hard times as an aberration that will be forgotten come November. Officials point to the slate of socialist candidates nominated by Democrats and Mr. Trump’s efforts to lower costs as reasons for optimism.
“The Democrats are in disarray as their party is being overthrown by radical socialists and communists. President Trump remains laser-focused on lowering costs for working families, keeping the American people safe and making this country greater than ever before,” said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers.
Democratic strategist Brad Bannon said the shocks were like “Christmas every day” for Democrats. Although he acknowledged the Iran war will have the most staying power come November, he said the other setbacks fit into the Democrats’ midterm narratives.
“These issues do contribute to the picture that voters see in their minds of Trump in chaos, Trump incompetence. So, definitely, yes, the Democrats can capitalize on it,” he said.
The blows have the potential to chip away at Mr. Trump’s credibility with voters. In the discredited prosecution of a former Olympian canoeist accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool, Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and a Trump appointee, publicly contradicted the president and called out the pool’s botched renovation.
The White House denied Mr. Trump selected the contractor for the nearly $16 million renovation, though the firm is tied to a longtime supporter.
Days later, Mr. Trump’s attorney general nominee, Todd Blanche, officially scrapped the president’s $1.8 billion fund to reimburse people who say they were victims of political prosecution under President Biden.
Mr. Blanche rescinded the fund after two Republican senators threatened to block his confirmation if the administration moved forward with it. On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Mr. Blanche’s nomination to the full Senate.
Both situations show appointees are casting aside Mr. Trump’s agenda and highlighting their independent streak. Both situations also show that Mr. Trump’s power over the Senate may be on the decline, as he has failed to secure passage of the SAVE America Act.
The legislation, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and an ID at the polls, is a top priority for the president. Last month, Mr. Trump refused to sign a bipartisan housing bill that gave Republicans a campaign talking point on the cost of living, as punishment for failing to pass the SAVE America Act.
The defeats have left Mr. Trump lashing out at his handpicked nominees. He said Monday that Ms. Pirro “choked” and openly disagreed with her conclusion that a botched renovation caused the damage to the pool.
“She folded like an umbrella,” Mr. Trump said of his longtime ally.
He also vented that the Anti-Weaponization Fund was scrapped, saying it could have given solace to people who spent “years in prison” but did “absolutely nothing wrong.” He said 22 defendants from Jan. 6 have since committed suicide.
One day after Mr. Blanche formally killed the fund, the president got bogged down again with Tehran as the Iran war entered its sixth month. After threatening a massive strike, he called it off, saying Iranian leaders had agreed to peace talks. However, Tehran denied that any talks were taking place and insisted that the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for oil tankers, would remain closed.
Mr. Trump took to Truth Social to call Iran’s leadership “unbelievably duplicitous.” He accused Iran of begging for talks only to turn around and insist they were not having talks.
The back-and-forth reflects a strategy Iran has employed throughout the war, denying Mr. Trump’s pronouncements and dragging out negotiations.
“The big issues for the president are the economy and the Iran war. So if the Iran war ends and the economy improves, he can overcome the recent problems. Those issues are much bigger than a daily news story, but it’s not clear if the economy will get better or the Iran war will end anytime soon,” said Mr. West of the Brookings Institution.
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