Jared Kushner reportedly warned Trump to lay off the Joe Biden taunts. He obviously didn't listen.
President Trump's staffers think his nicknames could cost him 2020.
As Trump gears up to take on one of nearly two dozen Democrats next year, his aides — including his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner — have decided his campaign won't focus on the massive opposing field just yet. Except Trump has clearly not taken that advice, and it has at least one adviser convinced it'll push former Vice President Joe Biden to the top of the Democratic field, Politico reports.
When Democrats started filing into the presidential race earlier this year, Kushner explicitly warned Trump campaign officials against "targeting specific Democratic presidential hopefuls," Politico reports via a person familiar with Kushner's strategy. Getting involved in the primaries was "at best a waste of time — and could even be counterproductive," Kushner reportedly warned, Politico continues. Yet as Trump's Twitter feed, rally speeches, and growing nickname arsenal indicate, the president has ignored that advice.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump has most notably taken to railing against Biden, something one adviser tells Politico "we've asked him — I've personally asked him — to stop." After all, Trump's campaigners "don't think Biden can make it out of the woke Democrat primary," the adviser said, but added that "he will if the president gives him oxygen." A second Trump adviser told Politico that "smart guys" like Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale are probably "telling [Trump] to stop this, and he's telling them to go f--k themselves."
Still, some Trump 2016 veterans argue with the current strategy, with one telling Politico it's smart to attack Biden if he's "front page of every paper" and "leading every single newscast" already. Read about both sides at Politico.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Could smaller cars bring down vehicle prices?Today’s Big Question Trump seems to think so, but experts aren’t so sure
-
2025’s most notable new albumsThe Week Recommends These were some of the finest releases of the past year
-
Trump aims to take down ‘global mothership’ of climate scienceIN THE SPOTLIGHT By moving to dismantle Colorado’s National Center for Atmospheric Research, the White House says it is targeting ‘climate alarmism’
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
-
Why does White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles have MAGA in a panic?TODAY’S BIG QUESTION Trump’s all-powerful gatekeeper is at the center of a MAGA firestorm that could shift the trajectory of the administration
-
Hegseth rejects release of full boat strike footageSpeed Read There are calls to release video of the military killing two survivors of a Sept. 2 missile strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat
-
‘It’s another clarifying moment in our age of moral collapse’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump vows naval blockade of most Venezuelan oilSpeed Read The announcement further escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
Trump wants to build out AI with a new ‘Tech Force’The Explainer The administration is looking to add roughly 1,000 jobs
