Trump Reboot: Getting the Agenda Back on Track

President Donald Trump kicked off his first foreign trip in Saudi Arabia, where his speech to Muslim leaders about driving out terrorists and isolating Iran was well received.

The speech is likely to delight Arab leaders, who feel Iran is trying to dominate the Middle East. Trump is next scheduled to visit Israel, Italy, and NATO leaders in Belgium.

“His position is unique and very difficult because unlike most presidents, he has a big chunk of his own party against him. The GOP swampers would love to see President Trump ousted.”

It’s a muscular trip for Trump — especially as it’s his first foreign trip — coming at a time that Trump faces near-chaos at home. A string of damaging stories and bungled communications strategies since the firing of FBI Director James Comey have threatened Trump’s domestic agenda.

Now top Trump surrogates and conservatives believe no more mistakes can be made. It has to be back to the ABCs of government.

“Back to his domestic agenda full time,” said Jeffrey Lord, the former Reagan official and CNN’s top Trump surrogate, when asked how Trump can reboot. “The irony of the [special counsel] appointment is that it mostly moves Russia out of the headlines. The focus should now go and surely will go to the nitty-gritty of health care, tax reform, the budget, etc.”

Trump got caught up in distraction over the so-called Russian investigation. Perhaps all the more frustrating to Republicans is that there appears to be no evidence that Trump’s 2016 campaign coordinated with Russians.

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Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi — no friend to Trump — wondered what is being investigated. Taibbi suggested Trump is not unlike “a person (lingering) for extended periods of time under public suspicion without being aware of the exact nature, or origin, of the accusations.”

That’s just where the Democrats want Trump. Without concrete charges against Trump associates, the Democrats can delay Trump’s agenda without having one of their own.

This situation infuriates Trump and has led him to publicly lash out, often unwisely, against fired FBI Director James Comey and others.

If Trump had not left the country for his days-long adventure, it is unclear what would have happened next. Congressional leaders were desperate for peace and quiet. But what next when Trump gets home? One conservative historian notes the electoral doom waiting for presidents with poor hearing.

“I remember how in 1991, some aides went to President George H.W. Bush and pleaded with him to talk more about the faltering economy and take some action and how people were hurting in the Bush recession and the story was [that] Bush replied, ‘If you’re so damned smart, why aren’t you president?'” said Craig Shirley, a biographer of President Ronald Reagan.

“Bush lost the next year in part because he had little feel for the American people,” said Shirley. “I can easily see Trump reacting the same way as Bush 41 … He did not bring into his administration any GOP political wise men because he believes he does not need them. Hasn’t he said in the past he is his own best adviser?”

But now he will definitely need good advice — not just to stay on message, but to accomplish the big goals he has. Here are the challenges, and the ways to reboot.

Improve public approval
Trump has the worst public approval ratings of any first-year president in recent history, at this point in his new presidency.

“To get that approval rating up, he needs to better messaging,” said Eddie Zipperer, an assistant professor of political science at Georgia Military College. “First, he needs to fire himself from managing his Twitter account. It’s a powerful weapon, but he can’t learn not to point it at himself.”

Zipperer also says Trump needs a staff shake-up in communications, using less combative press spokesmen at the West Wing podium.

“Press secretary is like the president’s offensive line, and Trump is getting sacked almost every day,” said Zipperer.

No more bickering
Zipperer believes Trump must also stop bickering with the U.S. media, which Trump likes to publicly lash.

“He needs to end his war with the media,” said Zipperer. “It’s unproductive, and it’s going to cost him his agenda. Presidents get to spend their political capital on one big thing, and Trump is blowing his on a useless crusade against CNN and The New York Times instead of spending it on Obamacare repeal, tax reform, or the wall.”

It’s a tall order. Trump likes to counter-punch against even the smallest foes, as he often did during the 2016 campaign.

Focus energy on the big-ticket items
Most political pundits have long said the most important three items on the president’s 2017 agenda are the budget, repealing the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), and tax reform.

Trump has to get back to talking about those three items — and negotiating on them — when he arrives home on Sunday.

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There’s already grumbling in Congress that committees are behind on the 2018 budget, with Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) saying he wouldn’t be surprised if another short-term spending fix is needed on Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

“His position is unique and very difficult because unlike most presidents, he has a big chunk of his own party against him,” said Zipperer. “The GOP swampers would love to see President Trump ousted. The more president Trump’s approval goes down, the more emboldened the swampers become.”