Senate Republicans are growing increasingly unnerved over President Donald Trump’s eyebrow-raising decision to revoke government-funded security details for top former administration officials but reportedly haven’t agreed on how to transmit that message to the president.
That’s according to a new report in Politico, which highlighted the difficult task Republicans face in attempting to change Trump’s mind, especially with the lingering Iranian-backed threat still a reality for Trump critics Gen. Mark Milley and former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
“The main challenge, according to two senior GOP congressional aides and a former Trump administration official familiar with the discussions, is that Republicans fear Trump will dig in his heels if they confront him too aggressively with their concern about the officials — especially since Trump has feuded publicly with two of them,” the report stated.
The controversial security issue, which immediately stirred outrage from political observers after Trump began issuing the orders, was discussed Tuesday at a Senate GOP policy lunch, Politico said.
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And while no plan was officially agreed on, some in attendance floated the idea that Republicans emphasize the urgent need for security for “the two aides they insist were always loyal to Trump — former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Brian Hook, who was the State Department’s special representative for Iran — though all four former Trump officials have been left equally exposed to Iran-backed assassins.”
One GOP Senate aide at the meeting pointed out Sen. Tom Cotton’s Fox News appearance on Sunday when asked “about how they thought that message could best be conveyed to Trump.”
“Senator Cotton handled it perfectly as the messenger, the message itself (carefully but seriously worded), and the venue itself (FOX News Sunday),” the individual granted anonymity for wrote in an email to Politico.
“If a Republican gave a press conference right now and came out guns blazing on the president, that’s not going to work,” Politico reported a senior GOP Senate aide said. “Obviously, you have to do this delicately to get it done."