RCP co-founder Tom Bevan commented on what ending the war in Ukraine would do for President Trump politically, Sunday afternoon on NewsNation. “For every moment that he spends on foreign policy, he and his team should be spending four times that amount on domestic policy, on the economy,” Bevan suggested. “To the extent that voters see him only doing this and not doing things on the economy, they will think that he has taken his eye off the ball-that he is sort of detached from the concerns of real Americans.”

NEWSNATION ANCHOR: Politically, what will this mean for Donald Trump if he is able to end this war? You know, this is a war that he campaigned on ending on day one as commander in chief. TOM BEVAN: He did, and it’s obviously proven much more difficult for him, and he’s expended a lot of time and energy on it-quite frankly, to his detriment. I know it’s something that he takes seriously. Everybody wants the war to end. But when you look at domestic politics, it’s all about the economy. It’s all about inflation. The Ukraine war is not on the list of American concerns. And here’s the president spending a bunch of his time. People are seeing him negotiating this stuff personally. He’s personally involved, and he’s not spending time talking about the economy, talking about affordability, talking about the things that the American people want. So it is something that’s important to him. I think the American people will be happy if he’s able to conclude this war. But at the end of the day, will he get a lot of political credit here in the U.S. heading into the midterms in November? Probably not. NEWSNATION ANCHOR: Okay. Well, let’s stay on, because, look, Republicans would say the president is able to walk and chew gum at the same time. … Let’s go back to what you were talking about-the president focusing on these international foreign policy issues rather than affordability here at home. His supporters would say that that’s the nature of the presidency: you’ve got to be able to do more than one thing at a time. He hasn’t really taken any time off over Christmas like former President Biden. It seems like it was hard to see him because he was very often on vacation and didn’t want to take questions from the media. At least we did hear from the president here. What do you think Zelensky is going to be asking in this meeting? We saw Canada pledge $ 2.5 billion in loan guarantees-not for weapons, but for reconstruction. Is Zelensky going to be asking for money, and how will that go over with the American people? TOM BEVAN: Well, not well. That’s been something that Donald Trump campaigned on as well, and his base, I think, was pretty fervent in their desire to see the United States spending money at home as opposed to spending money on Ukraine. So we’ll see what happens. But again, you know, 90% done, but the 10% that’s still outstanding is the hardest part. It is the security guarantees. It is the control of the Donbas region. So that’s the reason that they’re struggling here to get this thing across the finish line. Again, Trump has spent a lot of time and energy on this. He’s personally invested. He’s calling both leaders. He’s holding these meetings. So he’s put a lot of his political capital on the line. And I think you heard him say that if it doesn’t get solved today or soon, this final round of negotiations could go on for a long time. It sounds like Trump, if he can’t get a deal done here, is willing to wash his hands of it and move on. NEWSNATION ANCHOR: Well, it is going to be a big week for foreign policy. So once again, for viewers who are just joining us, moments ago Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was outside with President Donald Trump at their Mar-a-Lago. They’re now having a big meeting inside. We’re continuing to follow this one. Tomorrow we’ve got Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting with President Trump, and we’ve got Iran saying that they are in an all-out war with the United States, with Israel, and Europe right now. So what should the viewer be thinking as he’s watching all this unfold? TOM BEVAN: Well, obviously, as you mention, look, the presidency is a big job, and there are a lot of components to it. But again, what I was trying to get to earlier is that while this is something that certainly Trump has to do, he has to avoid the perception that these types of meetings are all he’s spending time on. For every moment that he spends on foreign policy, he and his team should be spending four times that amount on domestic policy, on the economy. What is he doing to help lower prices? What is he doing to help increase wages? What is he doing to address the concerns of Americans? Because to the extent that they see him only doing this and not doing things on the economy, they will think that he has taken his eye off the ball-that he is sort of detached from the concerns of real Americans. Again, it’s not that the public doesn’t want to see him succeed in foreign policy. They understand that. But heading into a midterm election year, with Republicans in control of all three levers of power in Washington, if they don’t spend enough time-if the president doesn’t spend enough time-focused on the concerns of the American people, which are all about the economy and inflation, Republicans are going to pay a big price for that. And that means trouble for the last two years of his term as a lame duck. NEWSNATION ANCHOR: Well, and if history is our guide, very often folks who are in power end up losing power in the midterms. The president would argue, though-he just had his affordability tour. His chief of staff, Susie Wiles, says he’s going to be out there campaigning for Republicans like he’s on the ballot. We all know affordability is indeed on the ballot. The president also says, just to play devil’s advocate here, that taking care of the rest of the world is taking care of the United States. When you’re keeping your adversaries- We’ve got to leave it there.

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