Less than 100 days into Donald Trump's second term, a segment of Americans are already fatigued with his presidency, Republican political strategist Karl Rove wrote in a guest column for The Wall Street Journal.
Much of what Trump promised on the campaign trail is done or has the full attention of his administration, Rove wrote in the column published Wednesday.
However, "Every week the White House throws its weight behind a new issue that went largely or entirely unmentioned during the campaign. Rename the Gulf of Mexico! Acquire Greenland! Take back the Panama Canal! Make Canada the 51st state! Americans find themselves asking, 'Where did that come from?'" Rove wrote.
Trump also vowed to "break inflation," but Rove said that “has been replaced by a fixation on raising tariffs, which nearly three-quarters of Americans expect to hike prices.
"Message discipline has never been Mr. Trump's strength. He doesn't avoid drama; he relishes creating it," Rove wrote. "Mr. Trump seems to feel he's winning only if he dominates the coverage, sets the story line, advances the narrative and pulls a surprise or two.
"It won't matter then to White House aides if some headlines are bad. They can always create another controversy in which Mr. Trump is the center of attention and, they believe, therefore comes out on top, Rove added.
Rove said that while Trump's most ardent fans have found the past eight weeks "exhilarating," many Americans have "had way too much thrown at them" in a short time.
"But in the non-MAGA world — which includes independents and Republicans — the start of Mr. Trump's second term has been exhausting. They aren't used to this pace, confusion and incessant combat. Theodore Roosevelt's daughter said her father wanted to be the corpse at every funeral and the bride at every wedding. So does Donald Trump. It isn't obvious that America wants that, too. But we know he won't change," Rove concluded.