President Donald Trump is pressing forward on two self-focused projects that seem almost intended to wreck Republican chances in November's election.
With Republicans bracing for a difficult midterm election just 81 days away, Trump made two recent moves that show he remains distracted with his self-gratification and glorification – even though it’s increasingly likely to come at the expense of his party, wrote CNN's Aaron Blake.
"Trump appealed [Friday] to the Supreme Court to be able to continue building his coveted ballroom — which Americans already don’t like," Blake wrote. "And the day before, the president and his handpicked board at the Kennedy Center tried to put Trump’s name on the building – again."
The Kennedy Center's Trump-appointed board voted Thursday to add an inscription beneath the center's sign crediting the building as "Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump," and to rename the surrounding area "President Donald J. Trump Plaza."
This follows a federal judge's earlier rejection of the administration's first attempt to rebrand the complex as the "Trump Kennedy Center," which forced officials to remove his name from the building's façade. The judge said federal law "makes crystal clear" that the center cannot bear another formal name based solely on the board's decision, though the law does permit an inscription acknowledging major contributions in specific gallery areas, leaving the legality of this new workaround uncertain.
"Even if it turns out this is legal, that doesn’t make it politically wise," Blake wrote. "And it epitomizes the political malpractice coming from the administration right now."
A CNN survey last month found 59 percent of Americans, including 32 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, believe Trump has "gone too far" in reshaping cultural institutions like the Kennedy Center and Smithsonian.
A Pew Research Center poll from April found just 9 percent of Americans think it's acceptable to name government buildings after a sitting president, compared with 50 percent who say it's never acceptable and 21 percent who say only after he leaves office. Only 17 percent of Republicans backed naming buildings after Trump while he's still in office.
CNN polling shows 73 percent of Americans say Trump hasn't paid enough attention to the nation's most pressing problems, up roughly 20 points since his term began, while 66 percent say he hasn't prioritized the country's good over his own gain. Separately, CBS News polling found nearly 80 percent of Americans feel the administration hasn't focused enough on lowering prices.
"It’s as if the administration is trying to cement those ill perceptions," Blake wrote. "The situation also risks reinforcing a troubling election narrative for Trump and the GOP, which is that the president is way too focused on himself and not the things that are important to voters."
