The Memo: GOP divides emerge over Trump’s handling of Musk, Ukraine

President Trump is only beginning the second month of his second term but divisions are already erupting.

The friction is so obvious that Democrats, having been pummeled by their election loss last November, are taking heart.

Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville told SiriusXM’s Dan Abrams in a Friday interview that the Trump administration “is in the midst of a massive collapse.”

That is almost certainly hyperbole fueled by wishful-thinking. But Carville’s comment, even if exaggerated, contains a kernel of truth.

There are obvious divides among Republicans on two very different issues.

One, the war in Ukraine, is a matter of global significance. The other, the furor over Elon Musk’s role in trying to scythe down the size of the federal government, has more in common with the reality TV-style drama that always surrounds Trump.

Both issues are in focus right now.

French President Emmanel Macron visited the White House on Monday to make the case for maintaining American support for Ukraine in its quest to rebuff the Russian invasion that began in February 2022.

At the same time, federal workers are trying to figure out what they should do about an ominous request that bears Musk’s fingerprints – a demand to deliver a bullet-point summary of what they had accomplished last week.

Musk wrote on social media on Saturday afternoon that all federal employees were about to “receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week.”

“Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation,” Musk added.

Tellingly, when the email itself arrived – from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) – it did not contain the threat of imminent job loss.

There are serious doubts as to whether such an ultimatum would pass legal muster. The American Federation of Government Employees advised its members in an open letter that “there is no known authority for Mr. Musk to make this claim.”

In any event, the OPM email itself drew notable pushback, even from some favorites of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

Newly-confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel in essence told his staff not to comply. Patel, a fervent Trump loyalist, sent an email to his staff noting that the FBI would take care of its own reviews, whatever Musk might think.

“The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all review processes,” Patel wrote. “When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses.”

Another popular figure in Trump World, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, delivered a similar message to the intelligence community.

“Given the inherently sensitive and classified nature of our work, [intelligence community] employees should not respond to the OPM email,” Gabbard wrote.

The State Department, too, balked at the edict

A senior official tersely informed employees: “The State Department will respond on behalf of the Department. No employee is obligated to report their activities outside of their Department chain of command.”

The apparent rebukes of Musk were notable because he has Trump’s ear and enjoys his favor.

The president has enthused about the role Musk is playing on a number of occasions, including in a joint Oval Office appearance on Feb. 11.

Yet there are clearly at least some people within Trump’s orbit who don’t like Musk being given such latitude – even if few of them put their views as pointedly as Steve Bannon, who last week called Musk a “parasitic illegal immigrant” in an interview with a UK-based website.

Among some Republicans, there is also an element of trepidation about the political impact of Musk’s cavalier approach.

Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) faced tough questions from constituents about government layoffs during a town-hall meeting last week.

McCormick’s firmly Republican district is only a short distance from the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has been targeted for big cuts.

The quasi-department with which Musk is identified, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is spearheading the efforts to enact such cuts.

Republicans can read the polls, too.

A Washington Post-IPSOS poll last week found that 49 percent of adults disapprove of the job Musk is doing, contrasting with just 34 percent who approve.

Notably, while Democrats and Republicans broke along predictable lines, independent voters disfavored Musk by a two-to-one margin, 52 percent to 26 percent.

Meanwhile, on Ukraine, a blizzard of contentious or false claims from Trump has discombobulated those Republicans who take a far more skeptical view of Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.

Trump has recently suggested that Ukraine is responsible for the start of the war, despite having had its territory invaded by its larger neighbor.

He has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator without elections,” despite Zelensky’s landslide election win in 2019 -- and the fact that his postponement of further elections while his nation is under martial law is in keeping with the Ukrainian constitution.

At his Monday press conference with Macron, Trump glossed over the fact of the Russian invasion and instead blamed the Biden administration for having let the war “start in the first place.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and John Curtis (R-Utah) are among those who have, to varying degrees, distanced themselves from Trump’s statements.

Curtis wrote on social media late last week, “I want an end to this war just as much as President Trump does, but it must end on terms that bring lasting stability and peace. That means ensuring Vladimir Putin does not walk away with a victory.”

Trump’s claims about Ukraine have also drawn some pushback in the conservative media world, with figures from radio talk-show host Mark Levin to the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal making their disagreement plain.

None of this means that Trump is about to lose control of a GOP that he has drawn ever more tightly into his grip in recent years.

But it does suggest there are more stormy seas ahead.

The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.

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