The Dictatorship
‘Tone-deaf’: Trump’s GOP loses ground to Democrats on the economy
Republicans have spent a decade telling Americans they’re the party that knows how to run an economy. Fewer and fewer voters believe them.
As the U.S. war with Iran drives up gas prices and snarls supply chainsRepublicans face a growing disconnect between their promises of an economic “feast” and the reality at the pump and grocery store. Their response so far: Ask Americans to sacrifice.
In recent months, Trump and his allies have bluntly asked Americans to sacrifice their personal purchases, advising people to simply shop smarter, buy less and accept short-term pain in exchange for long-term national security gains that administration officials struggle to define consistently.
The messaging has drawn sharp criticism even from within the GOP.
It’s “more than tone-deaf,” said Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist and former Trump appointee during his first term. “Some of the rhetoric has just been shameful.”
Michele Tafoya, the National Republican Senatorial Committee-endorsed Senate candidate in Minnesota, told conservative talk radio listeners last week that if they’re worried about the cost of fuel, maybe they should “take one less trip to Starbucks” until the Iran war ends and gas prices drop. “Let’s just be patriots about it,” she added.
Similar remarks have been made by President Donald Trump and top administration officials. In December, as tariffs squeezed up costs, Trump told supporters ahead of the Christmas holiday that they could “give up certain products.” “You don’t need 37 dolls for your daughter. Two or three is nice,” he said. In January, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins floated a bizarre $3 dinner consisting of a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla and “one other thing.” In February, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recommended that cash-strapped Americans buy “cheap cuts of meat,” suggesting they purchase liver instead of “a porterhouse steak.” And earlier this month, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett suggested that an extended war in Iran “wouldn’t really disrupt the U.S. economy very much at all; it would hurt consumers, and we’d have to think about what we’d have to do about that, but that’s really the last of our concerns right now.”
“This is not an ‘I feel your pain’ party,” Bartlett told MS NOW. “This is just a preposterous notion of either telling the American public that we’ve reached the golden age, or dismissing the very legitimate economic concerns.”
The real-world stakes are immediate for many Americans.
Hunter Luther, a 21-year-old North Carolina voter who describes himself as a MAGA Republican, said premium gas in his area now tops $5 a gallon — almost $85 to fill his tank. At the grocery store, “everything seems to be going up and nothing’s going down,” he said. “It’s getting hard.”
Luther said he wants Republicans to acknowledge that “what they’re doing is hurting us.” He also questioned the strategic logic of the war itself: With the administration open to negotiating with a successor with ties to the regime of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in strikes on Feb. 28, he wondered what the conflict had achieved.
“If you’re just going to negotiate with the new one, then what’s the point of getting rid of the last one?” Luther said. “This was all for nothing, and now our prices are going through the roof for no reason.”
“They should have thought that out before they even went over there,” he said.
Repetition as strategy
The White House’s response to economic anxiety is deliberate, according to Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian, the authors of an upcoming book, “Trump’s Ten Commandments.”
“Having each of the Cabinet members say the exact same thing about how affordability is a hoax, how prices are coming down, how soon the Iran conflict ends, all prices are going to be lower than they’ve ever been before, and how everything in the grocery stores is cheaper than it’s ever been,” Tian told MS NOW. “He wants everyone repeating these messages, because by repeating those messages over and over again, he thinks people actually start believing it.”
Trump says that when the war in Iran ends, gas prices will “go lower than they were before.” Vice President JD Vance, for his part, recently described high gas prices as a “temporary blip.”
“Once the Iranian terror threat is neutralized, Americans will again see gas prices plummet, real wages grow, inflation cool, and trillions in investments pour in,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement to MS NOW. “President Trump was resoundingly re-elected to the White House precisely because he understood how Americans were left behind by Joe Biden’s economic disaster.”
But even if the war in Iran ends this week, Sonnenfeld — who, as founder of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute, regularly speaks with CEOs — predicts that supply chains and gas prices won’t return to normal for a year.
The White House has taken some steps to ease the pressure — temporarily suspending rules to allow non-U.S. ships to travel domestic routes and releasing more than 170 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Neither measure has stopped the rise in prices, which have climbed more than $1 per gallon over the past month, according to AAA.
And that’s contributing to a dynamic that’s eroding the Republican Party’s longtime edge among voters on economic issues. For more than a decade, Americans have viewed the GOP as more responsible stewards of the nation’s economy compared with their political rivals.
But there are signs that advantage is slipping. An October Gallup study found Republicans with their lowest marks since 2013 on which party is “better to keep the country prosperous” — a result before gas prices soared and inflation meaningfully escalated. Trump’s approval rating on the economy hit an all-time low this month in Reuters/Ipsos pollingwhich has tracked the metric since his first term. The 29% mark is lower than at any point during Joe Biden’s presidency, including when inflation peaked at 9.1% in 2022. A similar trend is found in polling from Fox Newswhich found this week that Trump’s overall job disapproval rating is 59% — his worst marks of either of his terms in office.
Trump loyalty holds — for now
Despite those numbers, Republican elected officials have remained publicly loyal to Trump, including those facing competitive primaries or difficult midterm races.
A GOP strategist, speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to speak publicly, told MS NOW internal research shows voters respond more favorably to policies explicitly tied to the president.
“Voters are more likely to support a specific policy when the president’s name is tied to it,” the strategist said, adding that the party’s base now is lower-propensity voters, who care about supporting Trump’s agenda. “It matters how you frame the issue to voters.”
That dynamic explains why Trump’s endorsement remains decisive for Republican candidates, even as his backing has proved insufficient in some competitive special elections. Trump has been traveling the country to campaign for House and Senate candidates whose races will determine control of both chambers — a notably more active schedule than Biden’s during his own period of low approval ratings, when many vulnerable Democrats avoided being seen with him.
Bartlett said the political calculus is also different: Biden “clearly showed his age, and it made it all the more difficult to campaign or even appear with him,” whereas Trump projects an energy that Republican candidates can still leverage. He “continues to be the largest, strongest driving force in the Republican Party,” Bartlett said.
November’s results will offer the first real test of whether the GOP’s economic brand can survive the war — and whether the working-class voters who powered Trump’s last two victories are still willing to pay the price.
“The same issue set that got the GOP a trifecta in 2024 threatens to undermine its power in 2026,” said Eli Yokley, a political analyst with Morning Consult, a nonpartisan pollster. “Even at a similar point ahead of the midterms in Trump’s 2018 term, Republicans weren’t facing a similar confidence problem.”
Akayla Gardner is a White House correspondent for MS NOW.
The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination, a spokesperson said late Wednesday, as two retiring Republicans on the panel dug in over President Donald Trump’s personal “anti-weaponization” deal with the government he runs.
Sen. Chuck Grassley’s decision to delay the committee vote that had been set for Thursday marks a setback for one of Trump’s highest-profile Cabinet nominees, at the hands of Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a pair of Republicans set to leave the chamber next year.
“Chairman Grassley works to set President Trump’s nominees up for success in committee, not failure. Senators Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Department of Justice regarding the Trump-IRS settlement,” the committee spokesperson said.
Blanche’s nomination to permanently head the Department of Justice needs the support of either Cornyn or Tillis to make it out of the committee to a vote by the full Senate, assuming all Democrats remain opposed.
“Why don’t you call over the Department of Justice and tell them they have one hour and 50 minutes to get me what I asked for,” Cornyn told reporters Wednesday afternoon amid the hardening standoff over his demand that Blanche and the DOJ put in writing a commitment never to pursue the president’s prized “anti-weaponization” fund, and to clarify the terms of Trump’s personal deal with the Internal Revenue Service.
Tillis told MS NOW that the conversations were complicated by the need for the Justice Department to get “several parties” to agree on the language of the statement Cornyn and Tillis are seeking.
“What I’ve advised the chair, and I would assume Senator Cornyn said something similar, is that we’re not prepared to vote yes yet,” he added.
“The Department has been in regular communication with Committee members for weeks, and we look forward to continuing to work productively with Senators to address any concerns,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in response to the decision to postpone the committee vote.
Cornyn was set to meet with Blanche on Wednesday morning, but the meeting was called off after Blanche failed to meet the senator’s demand for written proposals to modify the controversial settlement agreement he brokered between Trump and the IRS. The Republican senator is set to leave Congress when his term ends in January after a bruising May primary loss to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Trump’s chosen candidate.
“Maybe John Cornyn’s upset with me because I didn’t endorse him,” Trump told reporters Wednesday afternoon in the Oval Office. “I don’t know what it is, but I haven’t heard that there’s a problem. I heard (Blanche) is going through quite nicely.”
Cornyn made clear to Blanche during his confirmation hearing that he will not get his support until he agrees to reopen and modify the settlement. Due to the committee’s narrow Republican majority, one GOP “no” vote is enough to sink Blanche’s nomination.
The senator has asked Blanche to provide proof that the proposed nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund established as part of the deal between Trump and the IRS is formally dead, and he has also demanded Blanche narrow the tax audit immunity provisions the settlement afforded to Trump and his family.
Blanche has publicly stated that his department has dropped the fund, but he and the DOJ have dodged requests from Cornyn and a federal judge to put that in writing.
After announcing his meeting with Blanche would not take place Wednesday morning, Cornyn told reporters that changes from Blanche “in a modified release form” would be acceptable, but that “for some reason … they simply refuse to do it,” referring to the DOJ.
Shortly after the meeting was called off, a Justice Department official told MS NOW that the department “provided a written proposal to Senator Cornyn’s staff yesterday following ongoing discussion with both the Committee and the Senator’s office.”
Cornyn said that proposal was “not responsive” to his demands because it did not address the tax audit immunity provisions in the settlement, one of his key demands.
In May, Blanche signed an addendum as part of the deal that granted Trump, his family and his businesses immunity from pending IRS tax audits. That agreement, which has been decried by former IRS officials and legal experts as unlawful self-dealing, is being contested in federal court.
Cornyn noted that Blanche testified under oath that he could meet the request during his confirmation hearing.
“Maybe they think I’m just going to give up or you know, go along, but they’re mistaken,” Cornyn said when asked why he thinks the DOJ could be slow-walking his request.
Kevin Frey contributed to this report.
Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter covering national politics and policy for MS NOW. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at SydneyCarruth.46 or follow her work on X and Bluesky.
Mychael Schnell is a reporter for MS NOW.
Ebony Davis is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at BLN as a campaign reporter covering elections and politics.
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived this week for his tour of Washington, he may have had a mission in mind.
Netanyahu needed to overcome his newly diminished stature and waning influence over his once close friend President Donald Trump as both leaders grapple with the unpopularity of a war they started together and is escaping their control.
His meeting at the White House with Trump on Tuesday, which was closed to the press, was the first face-to-face encounter between the two allies since the U.S. and Israel launched a joint attack against Iran on Feb. 28.
Trump gave him a muted welcome and afterwards simply described the meeting as “very good.” “Obviously, many important subjects were discussed,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Rather than an intimate one-on-one setting, the Oval Office was full of top U.S. officials — Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
But Netanyahu continued the full court press on the Trump administration.
Over the course of two days, in addition to seeing Trump and attending Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral at the Capitol, Netanyahu also met separately with Vance, Hegseth, and Rubio, White House and Israeli officials confirmed to MS NOW.
The Israeli prime minister’s slate of meetings with key U.S. national security officials comes at a pivotal moment in the Iran conflict as tensions escalate in the region and Americans increasingly sour on the war. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows 60% of American voters opposing U.S. military action against Iran and 74% against sending U.S. ground troops into Iran.
Not only does Trump face pressure as Republicans face an uphill battle to retain congressional control in this fall’s midterms, Netanyahu’s fate as prime minister is at stake in Israel’s upcoming September elections – and he can’t afford to lose Trump’s favor.
The talks largely focused on what to do next as Iran continues to menace shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and retaliate against American bases in the region and launch attacks on Gulf allies.
According to a senior Israeli official who was granted anonymity to describe the closed-door meeting, President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu did not come to a final decision after discussing three paths forward: get a “good deal” focused on Iran’s nuclear program and enriched material, have no deal and instead continue the blockade and economic pressure, or take escalated military action.
But Netanyahu did not tell Trump what he should do – nor did he express a preference.
The senior Israeli official noted Netanyahu has not ruled out diplomacy – as long as it is coupled with “very strong pressures,” calling the push to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program “a contest of will and a contest of force.”
“There are ways of squeezing them and squeezing them and squeezing them and negotiating at the same time,” the official said.
Netanyahu did not present President Trump with new intelligence regarding the underground Iranian nuclear facility Pickaxe Mountain, per the senior Israeli official, noting the U.S. and Israel already are constantly sharing intelligence – and know where Iran’s highly enriched material is. “We don’t think it’s moved, and I think we have a pretty good grasp on that,” the official said.
During their meeting on Tuesday, Trump and Netanyahu discussed ways Israel and the U.S. can work together to stop Iran’s nuclear program and get the Strait of Hormuz open to maritime trade, the senior Israeli official said.
The two leaders also discussed a third goal: to continue to undermine the Iranian regime and “possibly create future conditions for a change in that area.” U.S. officials have backed away from pursuing paths that would overthrow the current leadership, but Netanyahu still believes that could happen.
“The chasm that has been created between the people and the regime is not about to be closed,” the senior Israeli official said of Netanyahu’s thinking.
Netanyahu advised Trump in February that Israeli intelligence indicated launching strikes against Iran would lead to the toppling of the Islamic Republic’s regime – and five months later, the slain ayatollah’s son retains power with a close circle of hardliners, calling into question the accuracy of Israel’s intelligence apparatus.
But the senior Israeli official said at the time, Netanyahu did not promise the Iranian people would take fate into their own hands following a coordinated attack. Rather, he chose his words carefully and said that an attack could create conditions to “advance the probability or the possibility that that would happen.”
The conditions needed for the Iranian regime to fall, “did not materialize,” the official told MS NOW, adding, “not for lack of insight, but for either operational failure or decisions that were made.”
Despite Netanyahu insisting Israel and the U.S. are on the same page, differences still remain: the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey and the Saudi nuclear arrangement did not come up during Wednesday’s White House meeting, according to a second Israeli official granted anonymity to describe sensitive discussions.
Meanwhile, the conflict continues to spread, with an Iranian drone attacking a U.S. gas storage tanker off the coast of Egypt on Wednesday.
Trump indicated he would not let Iran’s latest action slide, telling reporters on Wednesday that the U.S. would retaliate against Iran even as he leaves room for diplomatic talks to resume.
“It’s our turn, and we’ll see if we get there with an agreement at some point,” Trump said. “But we’re going to hit them very hard.”
As for what it would take for Israel to join the U.S. strikes, the senior Israeli official said that if Israel is attacked by Iran, “We will respond very, very forcefully and very quickly. And I think Iran would make a great mistake.”
Julia Jester covers politics for MS NOW and is based in Washington, D.C.
International rage over FIFA’s close ties to President Donald Trump has reached a fever pitch after soccer’s governing body announced a plan to sell a significant stake to an investor group led by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law.
The president and his family have all but turned the White House into their personal piggy bank. And FIFA — which has its own sordid history of corruption — seems to have made itself a party to Trump’s self-enrichment under Gianni Infantino’s leadership, such as by paying for space inside Trump Tower in New York. (The organization has defended the office rental as a World Cup outpost.)
Soccer is seen by many as a unifying game. But Trump’s incorporation of FIFA into his political dynasty is threatening that idea.
FIFA has announced plans to sell a large minority stake in a new company that will run its main events, including the World Cup and Club World Cup, as part of a plan to triple the amount of development money it dishes out to its 211 member associations.
Under the proposals — which are subject to approval by a majority of those national associations and FIFA’s 37-member council — a new entity called FIFA Forward Enterprises (FFE) will take over all commercial operations, while FIFA remains the game’s global governing body and retains a majority stake in FFE.
A press release from FIFA confirmed the plans and said Thrive Eternal, which was launched by Joshua Kushner, is expected to lead the investment group that would control FIFA Forward Enterprise. FIFA did not clarify why Thrive Eternal was selected, and Kushner was already dabbling in sports.
But Trump basically has already given son-in-law Jared Kushner carte blanche to dictate U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East while simultaneously hatching business plans in the region. (Jared Kushner has denied any conflicts of interest.)
Joshua Kushner reportedly has been a major donor to Democrats. But, predictably, the idea of another Kushner becoming financially entwined with the World Cup — the world’s most popular sporting event — and basically being dropped into a position of global significance isn’t going over well. Several other soccer governing bodies have expressed concerns, including Europe’s UEFA.
“This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” UEFA said in a statement about The Athletic’s report, adding: “The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially. None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA’s to sell.”
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee also rebuked the plan, writing on X: “Apparently the fake Peace Prize and giant lease with Trump Tower weren’t enough — now Infantino performs a kickback hat trick by pursuing a multibillion-dollar deal with Jared Kushner’s brother to sell ownership stakes in the World Cup to private investors.”
FIFA, Donald Trump’s favorite corrupt racketeering enterprise in world sports, is now going directly into business with the Trump family!
Apparently the fake Peace Prize and giant lease with Trump Tower weren’t enough—now Infantino performs a kickback hat trick by pursuing a… https://t.co/knSZibuMea
— House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) July 28, 2026
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., has already launched an investigation into the FIFA leader’s relationship with the Trump administration, while dozens of European lawmakers — citing concerns about “potential breaches of political neutrality” — have called for the FIFA Ethics Committee to investigate Infantino. This new proposal seems unlikely to assuage those concerns.
But what it does seem likely to do is fuel global anger toward the U.S. — the kind that has been growing since Trump retook office.
And when you consider that, it’s truly remarkable how the same MAGA movement whose members whined for years about politics mixing with sports is now in lockstep with a president who seems dead-set on casting his shadow over every sports event he can.
This post on X basically sums up the foul stench around FIFA’s latest proposal.
Sepp Blatter was Infantino’s predecessor as FIFA president and oversaw the organization amid some of its many scandals. When heof all people, is warning about how Trump and Infantino’s relationship is “deeply damaging” soccer, it’s a sign of how far FIFA has descended into the gutter.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.
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