First lady Melania Trump’s private complaints reportedly managed to turn President Donald Trump against one of his top aides, a rare warning that actually got through.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Melania Trump objected after acquaintances of hers were deported. Afterward, the president began telling aides that Stephen Miller, the driving force behind his immigration crackdown, had pushed too far.
According to the report, Trump went back and forth on immigration throughout the year, at times telling aides he wanted an even harsher crackdown. Republicans in Texas and Florida privately raised concerns with the White House. On Election Day, counties with overwhelmingly Hispanic populations broke heavily for Democrats.
Most other warning signs, The Journal reported, never got through. When aides showed him polling in the spring and summer indicating that voters were worried about his handling of affordability, Trump dismissed the numbers as fake, a senior administration official told the paper. In one meeting, he pointed out that he hadn’t commissioned any polls in 2016 and won anyway.
At times, Trump told aides he didn’t care about the midterms at all, according to the official. The official said the president had wearied of domestic politics and cared more about foreign affairs and how history would remember him.
Allies including Newt Gingrich and Sean Hannity quietly urged him to focus on costs. Senate Majority Leader John Thune repeatedly tried to raise affordability during calls Trump made about scrapping the filibuster. When Trump wanted to veto a popular bipartisan housing bill, he told one adviser nobody cared about it. Aides eventually persuaded him to let it become law without his signature.
The Journal also reported that Trump pushed aside stronger Senate candidates in four states in favor of loyalists, and Democrats won all four races.
“It really didn’t have to be this way,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, who lost South Carolina’s Republican Senate primary after Trump intervened.
A White House official told The Journal that Trump was not indecisive and always sought out feedback. Advisers also credited him with holding 30 rallies for candidates.