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Trump has struggled to rewrite the narrative on major issues this week six minute audio available here
March 20, 20264:13 PM ET /
All Things Considered : By
Tamara Keith, Domenico Montanaro, Mary Louise Kelly, HOST
President Trump's approach to power, especially in this second term, has been try to bend his opponents to his will. We have seen that play out in conflicts both domestically and abroad. It's a signature style, negotiating through threats. But over the course of this week, Trump and his allies have run into significant resistance. NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro are here to walk us through the week. Hi, you two.
DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: Hey there. TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Hello.
KELLY: So go. Let's walk through the week in which, I gather, Trump has run into some significant political limits. What happened? Domenico, you first.
MONTANARO: Yeah, well, I mean, there are a lot of things out of Trump's control right now. I mean, many of these binds that he's in are of his own making, and there are no easy ways out of them politically. He's been lashing out and rationalizing as a result. And it's been the case on Iran, gas prices, the economy and voting legislation that's on Capitol Hill.
KEITH: As you said, he has, for the last year-plus, used force, threats of force, threats of primarying Republicans who won't go along with what he wants, threats of tariffs against allies and adversaries alike. But right now, those things are not getting him what he says he wants.
KELLY: Let's stay overseas for a second because I'm wondering if a good example might be NATO. We know that he questioned the value of the NATO Alliance for years. This week, then he said, come on, NATO partners, pitch in, help us secure the Strait of Hormuz. He was met with silence and in some cases with an outright no. Tam, how has he responded?
KEITH: He has lashed out online and in front of cameras, questioned the usefulness again of the NATO Alliance.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We don't use the strait. We're defending the strait for everybody else. And then in the case of NATO, they don't want to help us defend the strait, and they're the ones that need it.
KEITH: It's like asking someone to prom, getting rejected and then saying you didn't want to go to prom anyway. He comes off as bitter. Trump didn't build a case for this war with the American public or with traditional allies. He didn't build a coalition of the willing in advance. And now he's coming in after the fact, telling Americans high gas prices are a small price to pay for defeating the Iranian threat and slamming the NATO Alliance for not sending in ships to help open the Strait of Hormuz. It's much harder to get buy-in after the fact.
KELLY: Although, Domenico, this whole - we've mentioned, his whole MO has been negotiating through threats. It has worked for him for a long time. Why isn't it getting what he wants now?
MONTANARO: Well, I mean, like you said, this is a president who really believes in domination, not collaboration, and it turns out that talking badly about allies over a long period of time, not making a moral case before getting into the Iran war, and not having leverage might mean that people aren't going to go along with what you want. I mean, tariffs are really a big factor here. You know, he's been threatening tariffs since the beginning of his second term in office, but those threats don't carry the same weight since the Supreme Court made it harder for him to use them whenever and however he wants.
KELLY: Well, speaking of the economy, this inability to bend allies to his will - that has huge effects here at home - right? - on Americans. What does that look like?
KEITH: Well, 20% of the world's oil goes through the Strait of Hormuz, and according to GasBuddy, the average national price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas is up almost $1 from last month's average. That is something voters I'm talking to are feeling acutely.
MONTANARO: A dollar more a gallon in a 12-gallon tank filled up once a week is, like, $50 more a month. I mean, that's $600 over the course of a year. That's real money and could have real political consequences when people are already pessimistic about the economy and are saying prices and affordability continue to be their top concerns.
KELLY: But is all of this affecting his political standing? Do we know?
KEITH: A lot of his supporters are still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. They believe him when he says this war will be short and prices will come down quickly. And the White House is leaning hard on the idea that MAGA still backs Trump.
But he does have a problem with MAGA celebrities. Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned this week, saying that there was no imminent threat from Iran. The White House has dismissed him as a leaker. And Kent does traffic in conspiracy theories and antisemitism, but now he's out making the rounds on Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, platforms that have traditionally been pro-Trump. Here he was on Carlson's show.
(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "THE TUCKER CARLSON SHOW")
JOE KENT: This is why 77 million people voted for him. It's probably not the only reason, but the no new wars, put America first, don't let us bleed out in the Middle East - that's what people voted for.
KELLY: And it is what Trump campaigned on, of course, which prompts a question. Whether you like Joe Kent or not, is his assessment, Domenico, of this political moment spot on?
MONTANARO: Well, he does represent a part of the Republican base that voted for Trump, and we're watching Trump use a lot of political capital on all of this. He's still polling well with Republicans overall. Rank-and-file Republicans - 8 in 10 of them back him and this war. And remember, people get their information, though, from a lot of different sources, and a lot of Republicans, frankly, would rather get up and walk out of a room than hear negative news about Trump. It's just what we've seen repeatedly.
But these cracks we've seen with high-profile MAGA people speaking out can lead to a depression of enthusiasm among the base, and really, that's what midterm elections are all about. Polling is already showing Democrats with an enthusiasm advantage, and we're seeing Trump struggle when it comes to legislation on Capitol Hill, like we mentioned earlier. He badly wants the SAVE America Act to pass. That would require voter ID to vote and proof of citizenship. He hasn't been able to strong-arm enough Republicans into signing on to that measure.
KEITH: And Trump is now setting up a situation with the SAVE America Act where the outcome is going to make him look weak because the SAVE America Act isn't getting out of the Senate and Republicans aren't going to blow up the filibuster which he's demanded. Though, much like with NATO, you can expect him to take the rejection and say he didn't need them anyway. Trump has already promised executive action on voting rules.
KELLY: NPR's Tamara Keith and Domenico Montanaro, thanks you two.
MONTANARO: You're welcome.
KEITH: You're welcome.
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