Getting a new Tramp Stamp....

Trump aides push a megabill rebrand as some House Republicans bristle

“There seemed to be some recognition that we’re in trouble,” said a House Republican.

Meredith Lee Hill

Top White House officials tried to salvage President Donald Trump’s major legislative achievement in a Wednesday morning briefing with House Republicans, pushing a rebrand for the megabill as it flounders with key voting blocs.

The main message, according to four GOP lawmakers in the room who were granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting, was that the legislation is solid — you just need to sell it better.

But some House Republicans bristled at the new sales pitch from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, senior Trump political aide James Blair and top Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio. The trio, as POLITICO reported, pushed a new focus on “working families.”

The Trump aides also pushed House Republicans in the room to heavily court Trump 2024 voters who traditionally don’t turn out in the midterms. The briefing comes amid a spate of angry town halls over Medicaid spending cuts in the bill and Trump himself acknowledging that the law’s initial “one big beautiful bill” branding doesn’t convey to voters what’s in it.

“Young Republicans, the non-midterm voters generally and entertainer/influencers are all or only what matters until Election Day 2026,” one Republican in the room texted POLITICO.

But others in the room said the goal is still to educate voters about what’s in their signature legislative accomplishment.

“When voters are lied to by the Democrats and national media pundits, we get beat,” Rep. Addison McDowell (R-N.C.). “When voters are told the truth about what Republicans in Congress are actually doing, we win.”

“There seemed to be some recognition that we’re in trouble,” said a second House Republican.

House and Senate Republicans themselves have been looking at polling showing them deep underwater on the megabill sales pitch — especially the Medicaid issue — including recent internal polling in red states like Missouri.

While there wasn’t direct pushback in the room, several House Republicans made clear they had moved into other topics to tout ahead of the midterms. One Republican asked how the topic of banning members of Congress from trading stocks polled — a divisive issue that House GOP leaders haven’t been eager to embrace as they’re under pressure to put a new consensus bill on the floor on the topic.

A focus on economic issues was also a key point.