SANTA BARBARA, California — The Republican National Committee’s winter meeting in Santa Barbara this week was held as both a rallying cry and a reset — a chance for party leaders and delegates to regroup, sharpen their message, and chart a strategy to blunt Democratic momentum and address voter frustration ahead of the midterm elections.
RNC Chair and President Donald Trump ally Joe Gruters told the Washington Examiner that the party is “more focused and energized than ever” to win the midterm elections.
Despite Gruters’ upbeat prediction, Republicans are heading into the midterm election cycle on thin ice, battered by internal divisions and external controversies that have left the party struggling to find its footing.
Debates around the Trump administration’s posture on Greenland have unexpectedly crept into midterm calculations. He has also openly criticized NATO, imposed tariffs at will, withdrawn from international agreements, publicly disparaged allied leaders, and had a transactional approach to diplomacy that has turned off some voters.
Republican strategists told the Washington Examiner that international distractions could divert attention from problems at home and dilute the party’s message on domestic priorities. But there are problems there, too.
Controversies over affordability, healthcare, and the situation playing out over immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, as well as orders to dispatch ICE agents to Democratic-led cities, have created an uncomfortable environment that could hurt the party in November.
Gruters’s solution, for now, seems to hinge on a large-scale GOP midterm convention this summer.
On Friday, the RNC unanimously approved a rule change that would allow the party to hold a convention.
“If the president wants us to host a convention to highlight the great work his administration has done for the American people, we [are going to do] the work now, and will be ready to act when that time comes to ensure the greatest American comeback,” Gruters said.
Gruters, Trump’s personal pick to lead the RNC, told party chairs and committee members that helping elect a Republican Congress and ensuring Trump is a four-year president, and not a lame duck, starts with them. It’s an ask that party chairs and committee members have taken seriously.
Hawaii RNC committeewoman Shirlene Ostrov told the Washington Examiner she believes the administration should lean into foreign affairs and frame the fight as one that matters to Americans domestically. Acquiring Greenland as a defense strategy helps keep Americans safe.
“The foreign policy also directly relates to things like oil,” she said. “It directly relates to those issues that affect every American family.”
Ostrov, a mother and a veteran, said she was upset by some of the images coming out of Minneapolis but added that the policies driving them are on point.
“I can’t speak to the execution, but the policies are 100% sound,” she said. “I’m sure that people can find many stories, good and bad. The policies are what we’re looking at. The policies of protecting American interests are absolutely sound. And I will, I will challenge anyone who says otherwise. The execution, I cannot speak to, but if young kids are getting hurt, I am obviously not for that, but the policies put in place are sound.”
Federal agents took a five-year-old boy named Liam Conejo Ramos. He is being held with his father at an ICE facility in Texas. The images of Ramos are the latest flashpoint in Minneapolis as tensions continue to escalate. The Department of Homeland Security has pushed back on criticism of the boy’s detention, insisting he was “abandoned” by his mother, his father told officers he wanted to remain with him, and officers were simply caring for the welfare of the child.
Ben Proto, chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, told the Washington Examiner that winning the midterm elections requires focusing on an “America First” message that emphasizes affordability and the economy. He said the key was to look at specific states and show how affordability has taken a hit under Democratic control. Then, take a look at what Trump and Congress did over the past year, including “cutting off fraud and waste in a lot of the entitlement programs but ensuring that the people who need the money are getting the money.”
RNC TAKES FIRST STEP TOWARD GREENLIGHTING TRUMP’S MIDTERM CONVENTION
He added that despite the importance of foreign policy, “at the end of the day, people will always vote with their pockets.”
“Greenland may be important. Venezuela may be important. But if I can’t buy food, if I can’t take care of my kids, if I can’t pay my rent or my mortgage, my insurance, then it becomes personal,” he added. “If we message it correctly, and that’s always the question, correctly, I think voters are going to see it was Donald Trump and the Republicans who created more prosperity for them.”
