Donald Trump risks damage to the Republican Party’s prospects in November’s Congressional elections, attacking top GOP donors Charles and David Koch.
In a pair of Tuesday morning tweet, Trump assailed the billionaires Kochs with the label “globalist” — a pejorative used by hard-right attack sites like Breitbart — derided their influence, and insulted them as a “joke”
The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade. I never sought their support because I don’t need their money or bad ideas. They love my Tax & Regulation Cuts, Judicial picks & more. I made…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018
….them richer. Their network is highly overrated, I have beaten them at every turn. They want to protect their companies outside the U.S. from being taxed, I’m for America First & the American Worker – a puppet for no one. Two nice guys with bad ideas. Make America Great Again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2018
The Kochs, free-market libertarians, have expressed their unease over the Trump Administration’s tariffs threatening trade wars with China, the European Union, Canada, and other countries. They also are opposed to the Administration’s measures, including last December’s tax cut, projected to add $1.3 trillion to the Federal Government’s deficit.
On Monday, after their annual retreat, the Koch-funded network Americans for Prosperity said it will not support the GOP challenger to Democrat Senator Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, in one of the most competitive races this November.
At the retreat on Saturday, Charles Koch denounced a “rise in protectionism” in which countries, organizations, and individuals are “doing whatever they can to close themselves off from the new, hold on to the past, and prevent change”: “This is a natural tendency. but it’s a destructive one.”
The specific trigger for Trump’s outburst was unclear. However, on Monday his ally Steve Bannon — former White House chief strategist and Breitbart chief executive — opened the assault on the Kochs: “They are trying to weaponize the ‘Never Trump’ movement against Republicans by saying they’ll work with Democrats. And what they’re doing has to be condemned, including by Vice President [Mike] Pence.”
He followed up Trump’s tweets yesterday:
You take Koch money, it’s going to be toxic. We are going to let people know that if you take Koch money there’s a punishment.
The Koch network has said it plans to spend up to $400 million on politics and policy in the 2018 election cycle.
There could also be fallout within the Administration. Vice President Pence has been a longtime beneficiary of Koch donations throughout his career as a political and legislator.
Americans for Prosperity president Tim Phillips declined to respond to Trump’s criticism: “We’re focused on advancing policies that break down barriers to success for Americans, not on personal attacks.”
Top Official: I Warned of Harm to Immigrant Children Separated from Parents
A top official says he warned the Trump Administration for months about the potential for harm to immigrant children if they were separated from their parents, before the “zero tolerance” policy was launched in April.
But Jonathan White, who leads Health and Human Services’ reunification efforts, says he was told that “there was no policy that was going to result in family separation”.
White told the Senate Judiciary Committee, “There is no question that separation of children from parents entails significant potential for traumatic psychological injury to the child.”
Almost 800 of more than 2,800 seized from parents are still separated, despite a court-order deadline.
See TrumpWatch, Day 555: The 6-Year-Old Immigrant Forced to Sign Statement After Being Sexually Abused
