By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s focus on the brazen U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro is frustrating some White House aides and Republican lawmakers, who want him to address economic and healthcare concerns in an election year, according to three people familiar with the matter.
With voters disgruntled about rising prices and Trump’s handling of the economy, some allies fear the president’s intense focus on foreign policy could jeopardize the party’s tenuous control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, her deputy James Blair and Vice President JD Vance are pressing Trump to prioritize domestic concerns, said two White House officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.
Vance has been the most persistent voice in meetings, repeatedly steering conversations back to kitchen-table issues, they said.
REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS INUNDATE WHITE HOUSE WITH CALLS
In the wake of last week’s Venezuela operation, some top White House aides are “openly frustrated” that Trump and many senior officials continue to talk so much about foreign affairs, one of the officials said. Despite easing inflation, many voters remain focused on affordability as they face high costs for housing, food and health insurance.
Asked for comment, the White House said Trump has always made the economy his top priority, citing his announcements this week aimed at lowering home prices, and said his foreign policy has “consistently put America First.”
“The President will always work to bring investments and deliverables back to our country,” said spokeswoman Anna Kelly.
Wiles and Blair did not respond to requests seeking comment. A spokeswoman for Vance declined to comment.
The concerns about Trump’s priorities are not new, as his focus on foreign policy predates the Venezuela operation. In recent weeks he has made veiled threats to invade Greenland and Panama, bombed targets in Syria and Nigeria, and pushed for peace between Ukraine and Russia.
But the officials say the concerns have taken on greater urgency as the administration enters a pivotal election year, when the White House had planned to shift more aggressively toward domestic messaging and travel.
Trump, who campaigned on curbing inflation, has recently said the issue of affordability is a Democratic “hoax.”
In multiple White House meetings focused on the economy since November, officials have shown him polling, surveys and social media posts highlighting voters’ concerns about the cost of living and his handling of the economy and have urged him to focus his public remarks on economic issues, the White House officials said.
Trump, one official said, has countered that the economy is strong, warned that focusing on it could play into a Democratic trap to downplay his achievements and maintained that high inflation stems from his predecessor Joe Biden’s policies.
After the president announced on Saturday that the U.S. would “run” Venezuela, Republican lawmakers inundated the White House with calls insisting the “only country Trump should be running is the United States,” one official said.
The party of a sitting president typically struggles to hold onto seats in Congress in the midterms, and Trump’s Republicans hold only slim majorities in both houses. Voter angst over the economy could make this a particularly tough election for the party.
GAUGING TRUMP’S ‘AMERICA FIRST’ MAGA BASE
Trump won reelection with an “America First” agenda, promising to avoid foreign entanglements and strengthen the economy. While his supporters have so far mostly backed his intervention in Venezuela, foreign policy is seldom a winning issue in U.S. congressional elections.
In December, just one in three U.S. adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy, his lowest rating on the matter last year, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. A poll this week found the same share supported Trump’s strike on Venezuela, although initial support among Republicans was 65%.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have privately questioned why Trump is not more focused on domestic priorities, even as they publicly support his actions overseas, said the two White House officials and a Republican strategist who is in close contact with members of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
“He needs to stay focused on things that voters care about, not renaming buildings and other things that are not in the kitchen-table category,” said the strategist, who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely about private conversations.
At a retreat for House Republican lawmakers on Tuesday, Trump spent more time during his 84-minute speech wandering through past grievances and cultural issues than outlining specific plans or a broad election-year strategy on how he is addressing voters’ affordability concerns.
One of the officials said White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller’s recent TV appearances focused on Venezuela and Trump’s renewed interest in seizing Greenland were unhelpful distractions.
Miller did not respond to a request for comment.
He and Secretary of State Marco Rubio argue the political impact of the Venezuela mission will depend on how deeply the U.S. becomes involved and how events unfold on the ground, the White House officials said. They say projecting strength abroad can reinforce, rather than clash with, Trump’s “America First” agenda.
To test that theory, the White House has commissioned polling to gauge how Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base reacts to his attention on Venezuela and Greenland, according to the two White House officials and a Republican pollster familiar with the effort.
The administration has also sought out right-wing influencers to shape the narrative around the Venezuela actions, they said.
The White House views such outreach as critical, given parts of Trump’s MAGA coalition are wary of foreign interventions and have shown how quickly support can erode if core promises are seen as broken, such as when the Justice Department reversed course after promising to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Several prominent conservatives who initially questioned the Venezuela operation have since expressed support, said the officials, who cited that shift as an early sign the strategy is working.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Trevor Hunnicutt and Bo Erickson; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and William Mallard)
