With Republicans under pressure, Trump’s White House starts bending

MEGAN MESSERLY, ALEX GANGITANO and MYAH WARD

Six weeks out from the midterm elections, the White House has moved into triage mode as internal polling reveals far more competitive races than expected. Administration officials are deploying policy levers they normally avoid, attempting to ease economic pressures on key congressional candidates who must appeal to a broader electorate than just the Republican base. As MEGAN MESSERLY, ALEX GANGITANO and MYAH WARD reported, the White House is in triage mode, and with Republicans under pressure, Trump’s White House starts bending. The White House’s posture represents a remarkable change for an administration that has often put Trump’s priorities ahead of what would be politically advantageous to Republicans in tight elections. While President Donald Trump has historically demanded strict party loyalty and chastised dissenters, he has largely absorbed recent public critiques without retaliating on social media. Instead of attacking lawmakers who break with him, Trump has engaged in private phone calls or remained quiet, recognizing the distinct political environment his candidates face in their home districts. As noted in reporting, Trump, never shy about attacking Republicans who disagree with him, has recently swallowed dissent so long as candidates criticize his policies and not him personally. Some campaigns are even giving the White House a heads up before staking out positions different from the president’s. More often times than not, a candidate or an elected official will call the White House and ask how to do it, because they are not interested in going against the president, said one person familiar with the White House’s thinking, who like others in this story was granted anonymity to describe private conversations. Policy Shifts on Energy and Fuel Prices

Retail gasoline prices are up, and so is diesel. The cost of financing government debt has risen since the Iran war began, driving up the cost of mortgages, credit cards and consumer debt. High energy costs have battered Republican candidates running in farm country and rural districts. Administration officials are actively weighing a 90-day diesel export ban in an effort to drive down energy prices, and considering backpedaling on a plan to import foreign beef. Direct Challenges on the Iran War

The economic fallout from the conflict with Iran has also fractured GOP unity. Several prominent party figures and congressional hopefuls have publicly called on the administration to wind down the military campaign. The GOP backlash, which has been simmering below the surface throughout Trump’s second term as lawmakers privately grumbled he hasn’t focused enough on affordability issues, burst into public view as a rapid succession of Republicans challenged Trump on everything from the Iran war to the president’s “lavish” summit this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Republicans have long been loathe to openly criticize the president, who has wielded an uncommonly strong hold over his party and retains long memories about who has crossed him. Back in May, eight Indiana state lawmakers who defied Trump on a redistricting plan faced their primary voters, and only two won. The president that month similarly ended Texas Senator John Cornyn’s political career by backing Ken Paxton’s primary challenge instead. Ranchers Push Back Against Beef Imports

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Agricultural disputes have further strained relations between the White House and its rural base. Rollins used her appearances in farm country to defend the administration’s beef import policy, which has faced criticism from ranchers, while pointing to heifer insurance policies and potential meat processing deregulation as wins for the ranching community. Many Republicans still support Trump but have broken with him on the beef policy. If you're going to do something America First, it better start with America's growers and particularly our ranchers, Nunn said. Another Midwestern member of Congress who spoke to DTN, but who wished to remain anonymous, said that ranchers are irritated by the policy because it suggests the president wants to make beef prices a central campaign issue. They think that's a hyper-focus on beef that isn't appropriate, given the cost of health care, given the cost of gasoline, given the cost of housing, the member of Congress said. Still, Republicans are giving the administration some leeway to follow through on its broader plans. You can't fault the guys for trying to find a pathway, Nunn said. The conversations about the administration’s beef import policy come as new reporting by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday revealed an Aug. 20 Oval Office meeting between Trump and Brazilian Joesley Batista, one of the largest shareholders of JBS, the world’s largest meat processing company. The meeting occurred a day before Trump announced dropping out-of-quota beef import tariffs. As of June 2026, Brazil was the U.S.’s second-largest source of imports, accounting for $1.7 billion of product, up 21% from the previous month. I think (ranchers), they're more irritated by the market manipulation as a concept, the member of Congress who spoke to DTN on the condition of anonymity said. Immigration Policy and Campaign Strategy

Maria Elvira Salazar

The cracks in party discipline first widened into public view when Miami Representative Maria Elvira Salazar stood in front of the White House and recorded her first campaign ad, she told President Donald Trump he had gone too far on immigration enforcement and warned that Hispanics who had elected him to office had been betrayed. The loyal Republican’s straight-to-camera critique of Trump immediately became national news. But Salazar wasn’t sending a message to the president. He knew where she stood. She was signaling to fellow Republicans that they had permission to publicly distance themselves from their party leader to save themselves from electoral collapse. HEMP AND GOVERNMENT FUNDING

The Senate version of the continuing resolution also included a separate agriculture provision that delays implementation from Nov. 12 to Dec. 11 of a ban on hemp products containing enough concentrated tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — the main psychoactive compound in cannabis — to produce a “high.”