Trump says GOP is the ‘hot party’ despite midterm headwinds

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump insisted Republicans have momentum in the upcoming midterm elections, even as the party faces a harsh electoral landscape and pressure from the White House over legislative priorities.

“We have a hot party,” Mr Trump said on March 25 in an address to the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising dinner at Washington’s Union Station.

GOP lawmakers confront mounting headwinds ahead of November midterm elections that will determine which party controls Congress for the last two years of Mr Trump’s term. 

Republicans have suffered a string of losses in off-cycle elections since Mr Trump took office, with voters frustrated over the cost of living and his immigration policies.

The latest of those came in Mr Trump’s own backyard, as Democrats on March 24 took over the state legislative district in Florida that includes the president’s Mar-a-Lago club.

Democrats have grown increasingly bullish on their chances to retake the House of Representatives in the fall, buoyed by data that suggests voters have a slight inclination toward their party. 

A Quinnipiac poll published on March 25 found that 51 per cent of registered voters say they want to see the Democratic Party win control of the US House, compared to 40 per cent who want to see Republicans keep their majority.

Among independents, Democrats have an even stronger edge with 57 per cent backing their party taking over the chamber, versus 26 per cent for the GOP.

Polls have also shown voters have soured on the president’s economic agenda as high costs for housing, groceries and utilities squeeze pocketbooks.

The Iran war also brings its own risks to the economy, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz sending oil and gas prices soaring.

A partial government shutdown which has left air travellers facing long lines and delays – a funding impasse over the Department of Homeland Security that threatens to further harm the US economy.

Employees of the Transportation Security Administration, which the Homeland department oversees, haven’t been paid for weeks.

Democrats have held up DHS funding in a bid to secure changes to immigration enforcement.

They rejected the latest GOP offer which did not include any of those reforms, including demands that agents stop wearing masks on American streets and that they obtain warrants before entering homes.

While Democrats have offered to fund the TSA or parts of DHS not tied to immigration reforms, Republicans have blocked those efforts.

Mr Trump earlier this week urged GOP lawmakers to link funds to reopen DHS to voter ID legislation and to remain in Washington through the Easter holiday if needed.

He’s insisted that voters will blame rival Democrats for the chaos at some airports. 

Despite White House promises that the president will hit the campaign trail on a regular basis to reverse that sentiment, Mr Trump’s trips to amplify his economic message have been infrequent.

When he has travelled to help boost Republicans on the ballot, he’s often struggled to stay on the affordability message his advisers want him to tout.

Also worryingly for GOP lawmakers, Mr Trump’s supporters have rarely turned out for other candidates as they do for him. 

Yet even as he projected strength, the president acknowledged the historical trends against his party. 

“For whatever reason, a president who wins, Republican or Democrat, almost always does poorly in the midterms,” Mr Trump said on March 25. “Nobody knows why.” BLOOMBERG