The Dispatch: “The political result of Trump’s full populism in his second term appears to be largely the same as the political results of his first term: a president with an underwater approval rating and a drubbing in the off-year elections that portends a blue wave in the midterm elections.”

“So how exactly do congressional Republicans answer Trump’s question about why he and Republicans aren’t more popular in the mind of the public? Some Republicans contend the problem is simply one of messaging, while others claim the party needs to be even more populist. While polling shows Trump and the GOP faring poorly on the economy and affordability, few elected Republicans are willing to argue that Trump’s tariffs—at their highest level since the 1930s—are a source of the GOP’s political woes.”

“The core tenet of today’s Republican Party is that Trump cannot fail; he can only be failed. And according to Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, congressional Republicans have failed Trump by not fully implementing a populist agenda.”