
The Train Is Leaving the Station
Author: Greg Valliere
June 14, 2024
ALL ABOARD: Putting aside their differences, Republicans in both houses warmly greeted Donald Trump yesterday to the scene of the deadly Jan. 6 riots, and they pledged loyalty to him. As one GOP aide told us yesterday, “the train is leaving the station,” and Republicans are eager to climb aboard.
THE GOOD VIBES between Trump and Republicans were apparent everywhere: Trump endorsed Larry Hogan, a frequent Trump critic who’s running for a Maryland Senate seat, and Mitch McConnell warmly shook hands with Trump. Signs of dissent were minimal; only four Republican Senators didn’t attend.
THIS COMES AS JOE BIDEN crawls a bit closer in the polls, perhaps because voters are uneasy over Trump’s status as a convicted felon, or perhaps because there are signs at stores that prices are coming down.
PUTTING ASIDE HIS CHARACTER FLAWS, Trump is a clever politician, and he now will move on to the next task: getting Republican unity on issues, starting with abortion, which Trump insists should be handled by the states.
“THIS WAS A GREAT MEETING,” the former president said. “There’s tremendous unity in the Republican Party. We want to see borders. We want to see a strong military. We want to see money not wasted all over the world.”
HE ALSO WANTS REVENGE, with the Justice Department his main target. He called the DOJ “dirty, no-good bastards,” a relatively mild criticism by his standards, perhaps because the Justice Department has been targeting Democrats lately. Trump also got in a shot at Milwaukee, site of the GOP convention, showing he hasn’t totally abandoned his unfiltered style.
PAY ATTENTION: Trump is at the stage where he will be leaking new policies, and the markets have to pay attention. He floated an off-the-cuff proposal to replace the income tax with a universal tariff. He told business leaders that he wants to lower the top corporate tax rate. And Trump conceded that the GOP hasn’t handled the abortion issue very well.
FAWNING SENATORS HAULED OUT A HUGE CAKE to celebrate Trump’s 78th birthday, which is today. The cake was a perfect metaphor for the day — make a wish, he’s the certain nominee and still the narrow favorite to win re-election. The bidding war has begun, and at least for one day the GOP looked very united.
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