Welcome to Washington Secrets. Today, we look at the president’s Truth Social feed and hear from Republicans exasperated that he is not doing more to sell his biggest win so far. Plus, what is a New York Post reporter doing in Islamabad this week?
President Donald Trump’s tax cut increased this year’s refund by an average of $350.
In a midterm year, free money is the sort of thing that could help Republicans staunch losses in a difficult part of the cycle and maybe (with a following wind) allow them to keep control of one or both chambers of Congress.
But you wouldn’t know it from Trump’s social media feed.
A Secrets review of the past week’s posts shows a president obsessing over the war in Iran, slating allies, beating up on Democrats, and neglecting a winning issue, much to the frustration of Republican strategists.
Today, Trump flies to Las Vegas for an event promoting his “no tax on tips” policy with a chance to reset.
But during the past week, his Truth Social bully pulpit has neglected the issue. He has posted 30 times about the war in Iran.
“Iran’s Navy is laying (sic) at the bottom of the sea, completely obliterated – 158 ships. What we have not hit are their small number of, what they call, “fast attack ships,” because we did not consider them much of a threat.”
Five times, he attacked the United Kingdom or other allies, including the broader NATO alliance.
“NATO wasn’t there for us, and they won’t be there for us in the future! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
He posted three times attacking Pope Leo XIV. And that’s without counting the now-deleted AI image of Trump as Jesus.
“Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable.”
Taxes only get a mention in passing and are listed among Trump’s reasons for endorsing election candidates.
A top GOP campaign strategist said the president’s rhetoric had to be entirely focused on touting the progress of his economic agenda if Republicans were to avoid “a disastrous midterm election of epic proportions.”
“With GOP control of Congress and the fate of his final two years in office hanging by a thread, things like arguing with the Catholic Church and posting memes that create harmful news cycles make it feel like he’s more interested in taking a buzzsaw to that fraying lifeline,” the strategist said. “The only thing saving us as a party right now is the fact that Democrats are even less popular, and that could very easily change in the next six months.”
Another said it beggared belief that the president wasn’t taking a victory lap.
“It is what he campaigned on, and he is delivering,” he said. “What is so hard about this?”
Trump has not been entirely silent on taxes.
During a Fox Business interview on Wednesday, he said that the tax cuts had “turned out as good or better than I said it would be.”
Yet during a photo op at the White House, when a DoorDash driver who styled herself as “DoorDash grandma” delivered burgers in a stunt to tout how much she had saved by keeping all of her tipped income, Trump went off in another direction when taking questions from the media. They deluged him with questions about the war in Iran, a much more difficult issue when it comes to November’s elections.
And Marjorie Taylor Greene, the former member of Congress, pointed out that many people simply saw a billionaire standing beside a grandmother who had to work a delivery job to make ends meet.
“Trump doesn’t care bc he doesn’t feel it and all he cares about is fighting his war with Iran,” Greene posted.
There are still almost seven months to turn things around, however, and many voters are not thinking about midterm elections.
“The focus for winning voters around is domestic, domestic, domestic,” said James Johnson, cofounder of polling firm J.L. Partners. “Today’s visit to Las Vegas shows that the White House understands that, but the key will be whether they can message that consistently.”
Johnson added that a winning strategy would focus on the danger of Democratic gains in Congress.
“People tend to vote against things rather than for things,” he said. “So Republicans need to [paint] a credible and alarming picture of what Democratic control would mean for the country, whether on crime, immigration, or the very tax refunds they’ve just received.”
Take Trump seriously but not literally
Trump’s telephone messaging is a stroke of genius. He can say whatever he likes to some credulous reporter, safe in the knowledge that they, their editors, and their publication would never undersell their “exclusive” 90-second “interview” with the president.
The war is nearly over? Never mind that Trump has been saying this since the first bombs dropped in Tehran. The line gets recycled three times a week as the media undergo some kind of collective amnesia.
So Secrets has some sympathy for the New York Post’s Cailtin Doornbos, who telephoned the president from Islamabad earlier this week and then breathlessly reported on how Trump called her back later with some logistics advice.
“You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there,” Trump said of Islamabad. “It’s more likely, you know why? Because the field marshal is doing a great job.”
Cue subsequent updates from Doornbos on X asking Pakistanis for suggestions about what to do during her unexpected extra days in their capital.
In the meantime, the field marshal in question (Asim Munir, who is the key mediator in talks) jetted off to Tehran for talks, and Trump’s two-day deadline expired with little action in Islamabad.
Still, as a former resident of Islamabad, Secrets hopes that Doornbos has made it up into the Margalla Hills and eaten her share of keema matar.
Quote of the day
War Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered an update on the war in Iran with a slew of references to Jesus and the Bible this morning. It is hard to pick a winner, but let’s go with his assault on journalists, comparing them with the Jewish religious grouping portrayed as opponents of Jesus in the Gospels:
“Our press are just like these Pharisees. Your politically motivated animus for President Trump nearly completely blinds you from the brilliance of our American warriors.”
Lunchtime reading
Justice Thomas: Progressives vs the Declaration: “Since Wilson’s presidency, progressivism has made many inroads in our system of government and our way of life. It has coexisted uneasily with the principles of the Declaration. Because it is opposed to those principles, it is not possible for the two to coexist forever.”
Pedro Pascal v Pedro Piscal: actor in legal battle with Chilean spirit brand: David Herrera registered the brand name with a Chilean commercial regulator in 2023 and began selling his pisco in off-licenses and restaurants. “We tried a few names, and Pedro Piscal stuck.”
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