Welcome to Monday’s edition of Washington Secrets. Today, we get the inside line on President Donald Trump’s plans for the midterm convention and how he will use it to seize control of November’s elections. Plus, we cast our eye on an interestingly brief tribute to Lindsey Graham from one of his most quotable colleagues …
When Donald Trump addresses the Republican midterm convention in September, he will use his speech to draw a clear contrast with Democrats who want to raise taxes and relax border restrictions, according to one of his closest advisers.
“Right now the Democrats want to run a referendum on President Trump, and President Trump’s not on the ballot,” said John McLaughlin, known as Trump’s favorite pollster.
Instead, Trump can point to Democrats who are winning primaries with socialist platforms or to the debacle in Maine, where Graham Platner was accused of rape — he denies the allegations but has withdrawn from the race. Rather than a referendum on Trump, Republicans will run a contrast campaign, setting out their tax cuts and a secure border alongside a Democratic wish list of liberal policies.
“Whether they’re running for Senate or governors or Congress, the Democrats are proving to be quite an asset to Republicans, particularly as they nominate the more extreme candidates,” McLaughlin told Secrets.
“You’ve got big-government socialists, you’ve got people accused of sex offenses, so the idea is to draw that contrast with the Democrats.”
It is a tough thing to do. Trump’s war in Iran, affordability worries, and headlines about reflecting pools mean Democrats have plenty of ammunition to work with if they want to make everything about the president.
But Trump has an extra card to play. He recently announced that his party will hold its first-ever national convention ahead of the midterm elections in Dallas.
It is designed to help energize his supporters as Republicans try to hold narrow congressional majorities.
Unlike the conventions held in presidential election years, there will be no party business. Instead, it will be a chance to take the fight to Democrats and raise potloads of cash.
“It has never been done before, and will be a truly Historic Event,” Trump said when he made the announcement, promising it would feature “Great Entertainment.”
Secrets has obtained an invitation from the California delegation revealing just how important it will be for funds. For $250,000, attendees can buy a “golden VIP” membership. It comes with four floor badges, four hotel rooms, gifts, and concierge services for the weekend.
Cheaper options are available. And anyone can secure access to a VIP lounge if they have $1,500 to spend.
Meanwhile, Trump will spend part of Monday thinking about the midterm elections. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, are due in the Oval Office this afternoon to discuss election strategy.
Somehow, they hope to break the cycle where parties that control the White House, Senate, and House receive a shellacking from voters.
McLaughlin said Trump’s convention speech would likely represent a continuation of his State of the Union address.
In February, he won the battle for headlines with a State of the Union address that turned the spotlight on Democratic members of Congress who refused to stand when asked whether they believed the first duty of the government was to protect American citizens, not undocumented immigrants. The clips of stone-faced Democrats anchored to their seats went viral.
“The president had a very good start with the State of the Union, and I think we’re going to see a continuation of that,” McLaughlin said. “You’ve got candidates fighting for office right now who think Iran having nuclear weapons and supporting terrorism is just fine.”
In contrast, he pointed to polling that showed 80% of people support voter ID rules, a key Republican initiative.
“Republicans have very popular positions on the issues, whether it’s passing voter ID and proof of citizenship, voting for tax cuts rather than tax increases, voting to secure the border and make sure that the only people that are here are here legally, when the Democrats want open borders, so it would be a wasted opportunity of a great historic event with the first midterm convention, not to draw a solid contrast with the Democrats,” he said.
NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said voters will be given a clear choice in November.
“The midterms will be a choice between common sense and crazy,” Marinella said. “Republicans are united around delivering results for working families, while Democrats are racing even further to the radical left by caving to the socialists, and that’s a contrast we’re eager to make in every competitive district.”
REPUBLICANS BUILD MIDTERM CONVENTION AROUND TRUMP TO BOLSTER TURNOUT
Skeptics will wonder at the wisdom of a convention where an unpopular president is front and center. Recent polls put Trump’s approval rating at near historic lows.
McLaughlin said many polls were methodologically suspect. They tended to include too many people who likely would not vote in November, and often balanced the number of people who voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 with Trump voters, despite the Republican’s win.
“They are deliberately skewing the polls,” he said.
Democrats weighed having their own midterm conference to counter what is already being dubbed a Trumpalooza in Dallas. They decided against it, figuring time and effort would be better spent by directing resources to states rather than a national event.
Nonsense, McLaughlin said.
“The last thing the Democrats want to do is bring all their wacky extreme candidates into one place for the country to see,” he said.
John Kennedy’s tribute to Lindsey Graham
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) is known for his colorful quotes and pithy commentary. So Secrets was disappointed in his brief tribute on Sunday to Sen Lindsey Graham.
“America weeps,” he posted on X with a photo of the late senator. A second post followed, in the form of a seven-word credit naming the photographer and photo agency.
Fear not. As regular readers of this newsletter will know, the Louisiana senator had been more complete with his pen portrait of Graham in his bestselling book, describing him as “experienced, whip-smart” and able to “talk intelligently on just about anything.”
“If you want to stump Lindsey, just ask him to name a country he wouldn’t bomb,” Kennedy writes in How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will.
Later, he describes his unpredictability.
“Invite him to dinner, and you don’t know if he’ll sit down for an intelligent conversation or get drunk and vomit in the fish tank. But that’s why I like him.”
BYRON YORK ON LINDSEY GRAHAM: He was ‘in the center of whatever’s going on’ for decades
Lunchtime reading
Inside Israel’s Secret Operation to Cultivate Ahmadinejad: Absolute marmalade dropper of an article (essentially a story that would make you drop your breakfast in the days when newspapers were read over toast and coffee). It was the Mossad, apparently, that rescued the former Iranian president when his house was bombed.
Listening to Homer’s ‘Odyssey’: An Epic Experience: Secrets is looking forward to the release of Christopher Nolan’s movie adaptation this week and can’t get enough Homer content.
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