A Republican Party strategist has questioned where Donald Trump's "energy" has been for key issues in the first year of his second term as president.
Trump has failed to weather the storm of criticism over his administration's economic and healthcare plans, and his focus on foreign policy in the last days of 2025 has angered an anonymous insider, who told The Hill the 79-year-old president had not been as focused on domestic issues as foreign policy.
"Trump is focused on foreign affairs," the GOP strategist said. "Where’s his energy been? It’s just kind of a weird time for a voter, you don’t really have someone trying to make the argument."
Trump has been busy brokering peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, along with hosting Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week.
Trump met with Netanyahu on Monday at his Florida residence Mar-a-Lago, where the two leaders discussed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. During a press conference after the meeting, Trump threatened to conduct another bombing campaign against Iran's nuclear facilities if rumors of the country rebuilding its nuclear capacity are true.
"Don't forget, we made the plan possible by taking out Iran," Trump said at that meeting, referring to the alleged peace deal between Israel and Hamas. "And speaking of Iran, I hope they're not trying to build up again because if they are, we're going to have no choice but to very quickly eradicate that build-up."
Over the summer, Trump approved strikes against five Iranian nuclear facilities. Trump claimed ahead of the strikes that Iran was "weeks away" from developing a nuclear bomb, although experts remain skeptical of that claim.
A study by the Institute for Science and International Security found that three of the five facilities have had "little or no significant activity" since the strikes. Iran continues to fortify another site against future attacks, and officials recently regained access to the tunnels leading to another site, according to the study.
Trump has also boasted of a close to complete peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. The Washington Post's Max Boot warned Monday not to be "fooled" by the president's latest remarks on a looming peace deal in the Ukraine invasion.
"Do not be fooled," Boot wrote. "Trump came into office promising to end the war in 24 hours. Nearly a year later, that ambitious objective is no closer to being achieved. How do I know? Because the fighting continues unabated," he wrote.
