Memo to Donald Trump....
Not one but TWO FAKE memos today: One from top Trump aide Susie Wiles to her boss and one from Joe Biden to Vladimir Putin.
Two, two, two FAKE memos in one edition of Wide World of News.
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On with the FAKE memos!!
****
TO: DJT
FROM: Susie Wiles
DATE: September 28, 2022
RE: The future is NOT now…
Good morning, sir.
I know you had planned to spend the day pretending not to watch cable news and the January 6 Select Committee’s “final” hearing. (Yes, yes, I know: the UNSelect Committee!)
But, demonstrating that all Liz Cheney cares about is ratings, that hearing is off, postponed until a later date because the news today is going to be all about the hurricane headed towards this beautiful state.
I don’t recommend you turn on the TV today, since all you will see is Governor DeSantis looking and acting heroic and decisive, along with Joe Biden acting like he is in charge.
The White House announced late last night that Biden and DeSantis finally talked.
So today is a day to try to not obsess over how a big storm might influence 2024 politics. Which means I am hoping you ask me about that very issue only 20 or 40 times, as opposed to 140 times.
Yes, DeSantis could screw this up. But don’t count on it.
I think the best we can hope for is that Biden comes down here in a few days and he and DeSantis engage in an Obama-Christie style hug.
Here are the pictures you asked me to pull.
Your pal Gabe Sherman is fake news, as you said yesterday, but his new Vanity Fair piece gets what you say about the Governor exactly right so maybe he is accurate in writing what the Governor says about you: “a TV personality and a moron who has no business running for president.”
The article also says Ron believes “that the only way to beat Trump is to attack him head-on.”
I know you won’t read the fake news CNN.com piece about you and Ron, so here are the main points:
On the “DeSantis is coming” side:
“I’ve heard people say that Trump was John the Baptist paving the way for Jesus,” said a senior official at another prominent conservative organization. “I’ve also heard concerns that DeSantis is a really smart operator who read the tea leaves and slid into this position at the right time, so he can’t necessarily be trusted.”
Even fundraising emails by the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP campaign arm responsible for flipping the chamber, have begun to frame the 2024 primary as a binary choice, asking donors to “vote Trump” or “vote DeSantis” in recent email solicitations.
“We are lucky to have so many great Conservative leaders fighting for us like President Trump and Governor DeSantis,” one such email read.
And before delivering a keynote speech at the National Conservatism Conference this month, where other rising conservative figures like tech mogul Peter Thiel and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley spoke to attendees, DeSantis was introduced as “the future President of the United States.”
On the “not so fast” side:
Concerned that conservatives may be jumping the gun, two influential conservative writers penned an unusually early endorsement on Tuesday of re-nominating Trump in 2024 – the first entry in what is likely to become a fraught intra-party debate if both the former President and Florida governor launch White House campaigns.
Warning that the conservative movement is preparing “to rally around an alternative to Trump,” Sohrab Ahmari and Matthew Schmitz of the online magazine Compact made their case for why the 45th President – despite “all his failings” – should be the next Republican Party nominee for president.
“America’s problems haven’t been caused by irresponsible populists but by a rapacious and feckless establishment. Donald Trump… is the only candidate who recognizes this fact,” they write in a new op-ed. “He alone has broken with the conservative movement’s unquestioning support for foreign wars and the security state. He alone has challenged the right’s economic pieties. He alone offers Americans a chance to confront and chasten their failed elites.”
So, what do we do?
I want us to focus on this “not so fast” side and come up with thoughtful, calm but powerful inside ways to build on this to such a strong default party position that we quietly cut the legs out from under DeSantis. But to do this, I’ve got to get you strategic and calm, and not so obsessed with stirring the pot.
And that means getting through the midterms.
We need to focus now less on who will be blamed for bad results and more on what we can do in fact and appearance to actually win as many races as possible, especially in the contests in which the nominees are candidates your ostentatiously endorsed.
You were so good on John Catsimatidis’ radio show yesterday, focused on Joe Biden’s weakness on national security, immigration, drugs, and inflation. That is the discipline we need from you, not talking about 2020 or voter fraud or abortion
Look at this great analysis of our agenda for 2022 (and, yes, for 2024). It isn’t from Steve Bannon, but rather from Democrat Bill Galston, writing in the Wall Street Journal about Europe and the U.S. (ignore the parts where he suggests we believe in nationalism or worse):
There’s widespread discontent with the status quo, which presents an opportunity for parties willing to invoke nationalist themes and scapegoat immigrants as a threat to their countries’ economies and cultures. Populist politicians trace surges of crime and drugs to unchecked immigration and lax law enforcement by previous governments, and they link these trends to the EU’s internationalist orientation and pervasive cultural liberalism.
Take Ms. Meloni, who has proposed a naval blockade to halt illegal immigration and has repeatedly denounced “ethnic substitution.” That’s her term for an alleged plot by George Soros and left-wing parties to “replace” Italian citizens with immigrants. Along with her more-than-hawkish stance on border security, she has long espoused a tough position on abortion, as well as traditional views on family and transgender issues.
Republicans hope to ride to victory this November on trends similar to the ones that have propelled European populists. The GOP holds a huge advantage over Democrats on crime, and Republican leaders—including presidential aspirants—are competing to dramatize their opposition to illegal immigration and a porous southern border.
Some Republicans want to expand these stances into a full-blown national populist strategy. Last year, Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), a leading contender for a position in GOP House leadership, sent a hard-hitting memo to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy urging him to seize the opportunity created by Donald Trump to transform Republicans into the party of the working class.
Forget about Wall Street and big corporations, he argued, which have taken on far-left values. Instead, support small businesses and blue-collar interests. Characterize measures to restrict trade and slow China’s rise as a defense of working-class jobs. Oppose both illegal immigration and expanded legal immigration as threats to blue-collar Americans. “Contrary to past conventional wisdom, support for tighter immigration restrictions and support from Hispanic voters are compatible,” he advised. The evidence suggests he may be on to something there.
Mr. Banks argued that Republicans also need to oppose “wokeness” across the board. “Defund the police” is an affront to working-class Americans, he wrote, regardless of race. So are efforts to redefine sexuality. If Republicans simply say no to the radical values of cultural and economic elites, they will find copious support.
He may be on to something there, too. As Democrats have gained a majority among college-educated voters, they’ve embraced those voters’ distinctive outlook. The question now is whether Democrats can moderate these views enough to regain the support of the less-educated but more numerous voters who decide elections in states national Democrats can’t afford to lose.
The New York Times has a hilarious story (that is not meant to be funny!) about how the White House is planning to “fix” the broken immigration system. Spoiler alert: there are doing NOTHING.
So the midterms are teed up for us.
We need to help these candidates of ours, however, because a lot of them are in bad shape. As Marc Thiessen smartly points out, they are suffering not because of abortion but because they are crummy candidates and lousy fundraisers. There are plenty of states in which, it pains me to say it as much as it pains you to hear it, “our” pro-life candidates are down in the polls, while pro-life Republicans are way ahead. Look at New Hampshire (Sununu versus Bolduc) for just one example.
So we need to get on the battlefield and fight to win. Getting our new Super PAC up and running is smart. I know some people think it is chaotic and late for such an effort, but I tell folks that by the standards of Trump World this is well planned and early!
We now have a real team in place, led by Chris LaCivita to run ads and do other voter contact with a sharp message. As you know, Chris is like Dave Bossie — but without the restraint and sense of proportion.
We have to figure out how much of our money we want to spend on TV spots because our folks are hurting. In Pennsylvania, Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Michigan, candidates you endorsed haven’t spent a dime on paid media on television since the primaries. Every dollar you spend on them is a dollar you can’t spend directly on yourself, but consider this an investment in the future.
We also have to plan your schedule in the targeted states. Yes, as we agreed, you will continue to campaign, but we need to figure out where to put your rallies so they do maximum good and limit any damage. A lot of MAGA folks live in rural, out of the way places, so we thought that would be good.
To preempt your daily query to me about Dr. Oz – he is doing better for sure. Got a big police union endorsement and has had some other good events, but his poll numbers and fundraising are still awful. In a new poll, he is down to Fetterman by 51%-44% -- and more ominously, his fav/unfav is 30%-51%.
We can’t and won’t give up on Oz, but he’s going to have to fight for this himself.
I know the midterms sort of bore you, because they don’t involve you directly, so let’s move back to 2024.
Every day I get asked if you are going to run. I’m pretty sure you are! But we don’t know who you will face in either the nomination fight or the general.
Beyond DeSantis, Secretary Pompeo continues to do interesting things, like rip off our anti-woke agenda. Fine. Let him do it. Let’s see him get any real earned media once you are engaged daily.
You might want to read this Biden speech if you have time. The White House is apparently saying the remarks he gave on Friday to some DNC event reflect his political message for the midterms and beyond.
Now, for what you really care about:
1. You are going to need a new nickname for Judge Amy Berman Jackson. She hit you pretty hard yesterday.
2. You should send Cindy Adams a note for her awesome column on Delaware; I think it will make you laugh as hard as it made the whole office laugh:
I learned Delaware’s main drink is Dogfish Head craft beer. Main dish: Scrapple, slippery dumplings and fries. Shove ketchup. It comes with a cup of malt vinegar. Main attraction: Rehoboth Beach, which has a gas station, nail salon and kebab stand. For anything else you go out of state.
No sales tax. It’s cheapo. The dress code is sleeveless tees. Which explains Mrs. Biden’s 1950s crappy skirts with machine imprinted flowers….
Middle of no place. No hills, no canyons, no celebrities except Valerie Bertinelli, Raúl Esparza and they mention “Aubrey Plaza.” Who?! No international flights, no sightseeing, no sports team, no national park. The entire state is highway I-95. Nearest elegant dining? Downtown Secaucus.
3. Yes, you were right, we missed Barbara Walters’ birthday. Send her a note also.
4. Finally, halleluiah – you are back on the Forbes 400 of the richest people in America after you had fallen off. Yes, I know, they are HUGELY understating your wealth. We will call them today to make sure you get moved back up even higher.
I will talk to you after golf.
****
[I’ve seen enough Tony Blinken and Jake Sullivan interviews of late to figure this out:]
TO: Vladimir Putin
FROM: Joe Biden
DATE: September 28, 2022
RE: Your future
Here’s the deal. Europe and we have a much larger vital interest in making sure Ukraine survives than you have for taking it. We’re simply not going to let you have it.
Now, if you up the ante by going nuclear, NATO will use its conventional force to destroy your armies within Ukraine. It will take us about two weeks. We’d actually welcome the excuse to do it.
But, if you signal a willingness to recognize reality for what it is, we in turn would offer our help in finding a way to bring Russia back into some reasonable relationship with the West.
You went too far, and it is time to pull back. We would rather have you, who we have known for many decades, in charge of Russia than some unknown successor of yours.
Do you really want to count on the Chinese to be your protectors?
Think about it and get back to me at your convenience.
****
In Tuesday’s edition, I had the wrong link to a Democratic strategy memo about the Cheri Beasley’s chances of winning a Republican-held Senate seat in North Carolina. The correct link is here. I regret the error.