Welcome to the online version of Of the policy desktopA night bulletin that provides the latest report and analysis of the NBC News Politics team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign.
In today’s edition, President Donald Trump struggles to convert the page into the saga of Jeffrey Epstein, while a politically vulnerable senator in Texas attracts him to support. In addition, Andrea Mitchell presents an office of the Aspen Security Forum.
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– Adam Wollner
Trump struggles to convince Maga World to move from Epstein files
By Matt Dixon and Henry J. Gómez
President Donald Trump cannot get his magic supporters to end his obsession with Jeffrey Epstein’s archives. And now he is getting his frustration about them.
In an abrasing publication about Truth Social, Trump continued to pushing his sponsors to stop talking about a problem that has driven what seems to be one of the most important cracks between him and the political movement he built.
“[M]And the previous supporters have bought this ‘bulls —‘ hook, line and sinking, “he said in the publication, he added:” Let these weak continue and make the Democrats work, do not even think about talking about our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore! “
Trump’s message on Wednesday was a significant climb, which reflects that his supporters do not follow his leadership and adopt their messages as they usually do. He has also left the media aligned by Maga with a loss of what to do, divided by much of the base that continues to ask for more documents related to Epstein, the deceased financial and the sentenced sexual offender, and Trump, who insists that they should abandon the problem.
“This is an important problem and could damage participation in half of the partial exams,” said a republican strategist familiar with Trump’s political operation. “It means the betrayal of those who believed that the president would expose the deep state. His team made promises and then doubled.”
In Capitol Hill: A growing number of Republicans asks for the release of Epstein files.
Senator Josh Hawley, R-MO.
“My opinion is to make public, everything you can make public,” he told NBC News.
Democrats continue to try to boost a gap among Republicans on the subject. As Julie Tsirkin reports, Senator Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, is trying to force a vote on a resolution that asks the Department of Justice to release her archives related to Epstein’s investigation.
Read more about the Trump-Maga crack →
Related: Ghislaine Maxwell’s family appeals to Trump in the midst of the battle on Epstein’s archives by Matt Lavietes
Senator John Cornyn appeals to Trump while facing the winds against main in Texas
By Bridget Bowman, Ben Kamisar, Olympia Sonnier, Melanie Zanona and Julie Tsirkin
Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, is making his case for the White House to get involved while trying to defend himself with a main challenge of state attorney general Ken Paxton.
But, until now, President Donald Trump remains out.
“I’ve talked to him several times. He’s not ready to make that support,” Cornyn told NBC News. “I think that as we begin to announce and close the gap in the surveys, I hope it is appropriate to make that support, but we cannot wait.”
“I pointed to him, and he knows this, that if he backed me, the race would end,” Cornyn added later.
Some Republicans are concerned that Paxton, a conservative fire brand without a shortage of personal controversies, including some that led to an impulse of impulse by several Republicans in 2023, could be a candidate for problematic general elections that would force national Republicans to spend millions to defend the red seat for a long time.
Behind the scenes: The race appeared at a White House meeting last week between Trump; Leader of the majority of the Senate John Thune, RS.D.; Employees of the Senate Leadership Fund; and other former employees of the Trump campaign. A source with knowledge of the meeting said that the group agreed that Cornyn and the allies must concentrate during the summer to improve the owner’s survey numbers.
Paxton’s team has also been in contact with the White House political team and sharing survey data, according to a source close to its campaign.
Surveys: In public surveys, Texas University in Tyler found Paxton leading Cornyn for 10 percentage points, 44%-34%, while Texas Southern University found Paxton leading 9, 43%-34%. Both surveys found approximately a quarter of undecided voters.
The money: The new campaign financing reports show that Paxton raised $ 2.9 million from April to June and had $ 2.5 million in the bank. Meanwhile, the Cornyn campaign raised $ 804,000 and finished the quarter with $ 5.9 million available, while its Joint Fund Collection Committee raised $ 3.1 million and had $ 2.7 million available.
The Cornyn campaign tour marked its second quarter worst on the last two electoral cycles of the senator on the ballot (2020 and 2014).
In a nutshell: This is far from being the first time that Cornyn has faced problems on his right flank. His most recent challenge occurred in 2014, when he won 59% of the primary vote of the Republican Party. But it may be the most dangerous moment of his career in the Senate.
Read more about the Texas Senate race →
Related: 5 Takeways of the latest fundraising reports of the campaign, by Ben Kamisar, Bridget Bowman and Joe Murphy
The impacts of Trump’s retirement from the global stage
Andrea Mitchell analysis
In the Annual Security Forum of Aspen today, listening and learning from American and foreigners experts in the Middle East, Space Defense, Energy Policy and Trade and International Aid, among other issues, there is an unprecedented absence of current administration officials. They were invited and only Pentagon officials accepted before canceling at the last minute.
The former United States ambassador to China and Nanar Nicholas Burns, currently co -chair of the Aspen strategy group, lamented the decision. Burns, who began his career as an officer of the National Security Council under President George Hw Bush, said the conference has always been a non -partisan meeting for the exchange of ideas, and hopes they return next year.
The national political division feels deeply due to deep cuts in the State Department and other government agencies, some of which Congress is formalizing with a termination package that legislators are moving forward. In Foggy Bottom, there were many tears when the badges of veteran diplomats and public officials and delivered their laptops and telephones were revoked.
The climate office was eliminated to negotiate current and future global agreements. The State Department said it was simplifying to be more efficient and relevant. Among those who also cut: senior intelligence analysts in Russia and Ukraine, barely irrelevant. The relatively small intelligence office, which numbered a few hundred, was one of the only agencies that disided against the false conclusion that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction before the United States launched the war in Iraq. And the dismissed included the East Asia analysts who had just prepared informative documents on the global competition against China’s aggression at the Southern China Sea for the trip of the Secretary of State for Marco Rubio to the Summit of the ASEAN last week, a political priority of the White House.
Occasionally, President Donald Trump can discover that having experts can save him from pregnant moments. An example is the lunch last week with the visiting African leaders, when he praised the president of Liberia for his English language command and asked: “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?
Breques would have told him that Liberia was resolved by Americans in 1847 and is an English -speaking country. But the NSC, which had 300 employees certainly swollen, now has approximately 50 employees.
🗞️ The other main stories today
- 🤔 He or not?: Trump said it was “very unlikely” to fire Jerome Powell as president of the Federal Reserve, less than 24 hours after telling Republican legislators that he was considering doing so. Read more →
- ☑️ In question, but voting yes: The Senate will approve a termination package that will raise $ 9 billion in funds for foreign aid and public transmission, despite the reserves of the legislators of the Republican party. Read more →
- 🔊 Sales tip: Vice President JD Vance urged an audience of Pennsylvania to “talk to his friends” about the Megabill Trump recently promulgated law. Read more →
- ✈️ Mass deportation agenda: The National Security Department resumed deportation flights from the third country by sending five immigrant detainees, all from different countries, to the small nation of Eswatini in southern Africa. Read more →
- ⚫ ⚫ ⚫ Middle East: The American ambassador Mike Huckabee demanded that Israel “investigatively investigate the murder” of an American who was beaten until death by Israeli settlers in occupied West Bank. Read more →
- 🗳️ About last night: Arizona’s Democrats have nominated Adelita Grijalva, daughter of the late representative Raúl Grijalva, to occupy her old seat in a special September election. Read more →
- 🎙️ In the Podverver: The former president of the National Democratic Committee, Jaime Harrison, launched a new podcast, and one of his first guests will be Hunter Biden. Read more →
- 👀 Canceled speculation: Barack and Michelle Obama laughed at the rumors of divorces during a new episode of the former First Lady podcast. Read more →
- Follow the updates of live policy →
That’s all of the politics desk for now. Today’s bulletin was compiled by Adam Wollner and Dylan EBS.
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