Gives the finger...

Sasse tempts Trump’s wrath by refusing to bow

The Republican senator and persistent Trump critic stokes speculation about his intentions with a soon-to-publish book and new nonprofit.

By ALEX ISENSTADT

Ben Sasse has so far been spared the public floggings that Donald Trump inflicted on two since-vanquished GOP critics in the Senate, Jeff Flake and Bob Corker.

But that may soon change.

As the “never Trump” faction of the Republican Party dwindles to a lonely few, the Nebraska senator has shown little interest in backing down – leaving him vulnerable to a Trump-fueled primary challenge in 2020, when he’s up for reelection.

How Sasse responds — he has a book coming out three weeks before the midterm elections and has quietly launched a new political non-profit group, fueling speculation that he might launch a Hail Mary bid for president rather than seek another term in the Senate — promises to be the next intra-GOP drama.

Behind the scenes, the president has stewed over Sasse’s recurring jabs, according to several people familiar with his thinking on the matter. After the 2016 campaign – in which Sasse refused to vote for Trump and compared the New York City mogul to white supremacist David Duke – Trump had a conversation with a GOP senator in which he referred to Sasse as “that guy” and said he’d like to see the Nebraska Republican “go away.”

More recently, the president has complained to aides that he views Sasse as dead-set against his “America First” trade agenda. In April, Trump sparred with Sasse during a meeting at the White House with farm-state lawmakers over the president’s decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The president’s frustration with Sasse has been fanned by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer — an advocate of protectionism whose nomination the senator opposed — in private conversations with the president, according to a senior administration official. Lighthizer declined to comment for this story, as did the White House.

One of Sasse’s friends, White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short, has worked to smooth things over with the president. The Trump aide has brokered meetings between the two in the hopes they’ll get to know one another better, while encouraging Sasse to give Trump a heads-up before he’s about to publicly criticize him.

On Thursday, Trump and Sasse, a member of the Judiciary committee, spoke by phone to discuss the Supreme Court vacancy and trade.

But at a time when Trump has moved aggressively to consolidate the Republican Party behind him — and get rid of his enemies — some of the president’s staunchest backers are eager for him to take a hard line against the first-term senator.

"I just don't think Sasse has been a Trump supporter and I don't think he's been a good representative of the state because of that," said Debby Brehm, a Lincoln real estate executive who was a delegate at the 2016 Republican National Convention and served as a “Nebraskans for Trump” co-chair.

Brehm, who supported Sasse during his 2014 general election bid, said she was interested in recruiting a primary opponent to unseat the senator.

"Trump won our state handily and I think Sasse should get on board with that," she added. Trump carried Nebraska in 2016 by 25 points.

Sasse, a 46-year-old Harvard and Yale-educated former university president, has established himself as a fiery anti-Trump figure. During a Dec. 2015 speech on the Senate floor, he derided then-candidate Trump as a “megalomaniac strongman.” Later in the campaign, he called Trump “creepy” and said he was running to become a “king”; said he doesn’t think Trump has “any core principles”; and skipped Trump’s nominating convention to “instead take his kids to watch some dumpster fires.”

More recently, Sasse has called the president’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports “dumb,” and has described Trump’s escalating trade war with China “nuts.” His opposition to the tariffs is shared by other farm-state Republicans, though they’ve used far less pointed language.

The barrage has led to speculation that Sasse is interested in waging a long-shot primary challenge to Trump in 2020. He’s set to make a national splash with the release of a new treatise, “Them: Why We Hate Each Other — and How to Heal.” According to a description provided by Sasse’s publisher, he will bemoan a “pessimistic” country where Americans are “so lonely we can’t see straight ― and it bubbles out as anger.”

In a move that’s sure to further stoke speculation about a presidential campaign, Sasse has started a new tax-exempt political group, America 101, whose mission states: “We believe that in order to prepare ourselves for the challenges of decades to come, fundamental changes are needed. It’s time to get back to basics.”

Mark Fahleson, a former Nebraska Republican Party chairman and longtime friend of Sasse who oversees the new nonprofit, declined to divulge how much the group had raised but said discussions were underway about launching online ads.

Sasse declined to be interviewed. His spokesman, James Wegmann, dismissed talk of a 2020 presidential run as “just typical D.C. chattering” and said Sasse “is paying no attention to any of that.”

Speculation, however, has been simmering for months. Since Trump’s inauguration, the senator has crossed the state line several times to appear at political events in Iowa, infuriating Trump supporters who view the activity as evidence he’s preparing a 2020 run. During a Trump campaign-style rally in Cedar Rapids in June 2017, Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann took to the stage to berate Sasse for his forays into the state.

"Ben Sasse will not a get very receptive audience in this state because he's a big never Trumper,” said Steve Scheffler, an influential Iowa Republican National Committeeman. “A Sasse presidential bid will go nowhere in Iowa."

Scheffler added: "I hope he gets a competitive primary challenge. What he tries to do by beating up on the president is not acceptable behavior."

In Nebraska, Trump supporters are turning their attention to potential Republican challengers, though they concede there’s no obvious candidate willing to take on the incumbent senator.

Much of the early attention has focused on Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, who has forged a warm relationship with the president and will be termed out of office in 2022. Ricketts, whose billionaire family owns the Chicago Cubs, has met with Trump a handful of times since the inauguration, recently making a springtime visit to the White House to talk trade.

After helping to bankroll the failed effort to stop Trump from capturing the Republican nomination in 2016, the Ricketts family helped to finance a super PAC devoted to helping him win the general election. Earlier this year, Trump tapped the governor’s brother, Todd, to serve as RNC finance chair.

Aides to Pete Ricketts, however, strenuously denied that he has any interest in challenging Sasse.

"Gov. Ricketts will not run for U.S. Senate in 2020. He has been and continues to be a supporter of Sen. Sasse," said Jessica Flanagain, a Ricketts adviser.

Sasse isn’t expected to make an announcement about his political intentions until after the midterms. Yet there are indications he’s gearing up for a reelection bid. He recently hired a political staffer, Rachel Lokie, and has been doling out funds through his political action committee to Republicans running for state and federal office in an effort to build alliances.

Sasse’s private overtures to the White House, though, might be the strongest evidence that he’s prepping to run for reelection. Earlier this year, Short — a former Koch political operative who has known Sasse for years — helped to facilitate a meeting between Trump and Sasse. The two shared their frustrations over the pace and productivity of the Senate.

Short has urged Sasse to tone down his criticism of the president and talk more frequently with Trump, convinced the two men could get along. "I feel like it's my job to help those relationships. The same advice I’ve given to Sasse I've given to other members. Some choose to accept it, some don't," said Short.

The senator and the president are now talking multiple times each month, according to Sasse’s office. Some White House aides have been surprised to see Sasse in the building given his criticisms.

Not all Trump backers are ready to ditch the senator. Nebraska agricultural executive Charles Herbster, a major Trump donor, said he still supports Sasse even though the senator has "some strong feelings that differ from mine in terms of what President Trump has done and accomplished."

Herbster, who chaired an advisory committee during the campaign and remains in touch with Trump, declined to say whether the president had divulged to him any feelings about Sasse.

"I'll let the president speak for himself," he said.

During a recent Senate GOP lunch, the president tacitly acknowledged the tensions with Sasse. The president told a joke about the UCLA basketball players who were arrested for shoplifting in China: If the players were so tall, Trump cracked, why didn’t they figure they would get caught?

Sasse was visibly entertained.

“I’ve even got Sasse laughing,” the president said as senators howled. “You know I’m doing well.”