A controversial Democratic message makes a return: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, a newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, Natasha Korecki and Matt Dixon explore how President Donald Trump’s immigration raids have shifted Democrats’ strategy. Plus, Jonathan Allen breaks down the political bind Trump finds himself in on the economy.

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— Adam Wollner

🚨Breaking news: The Indiana Senate voted against a GOP-drawn congressional map, rejecting a monthslong pressure campaign from Trump. A majority of Republicans (21 of 40) in the chamber wound up opposing the redistricting effort. Read more →

'Abolish ICE' creeps back into Democratic messaging

By Natasha Korecki and Matt Dixon

There was a time when calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was considered too risky for a Democrat to campaign on.

But today, images of aggressive immigration arrests in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., New Orleans and Charlotte, North Carolina, have led to anti-ICE sentiment creeping back into the party’s messaging.

Here’s one example from Patty Garcia, who is running for Congress in Illinois’ solidly Democratic 4th Congressional District.

“Let me be clear: F--- ICE,” she said when she launched her bid. “It’s time to abolish ICE and hold Trump and his entire clan accountable.”

Meanwhile, in Maine’s battleground Senate race, the messaging is more mixed. Democrat Graham Platner vowed to hold ICE agents responsible and “make them take their masks off.” By contrast, his primary opponent, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, would not sign a bill prohibiting local law enforcement from cooperating with immigration agents.

The talk by some Democrats comes as President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown increasingly draws political backlash at the ballot box, in polling and even among some in his own party. In most cases, Democrats have held back from calling for the outright abolition of ICE and instead are pushing for transparency, oversight or restricting local and state government cooperation with federal immigration officials.

There’s a difference today from how Democrats messaged the issue in 2018, when the “Abolish ICE” movement swept across the progressive end of the party. Many Democrats are now calling for an end to what they’ve coined “secret police,” saying they’re carrying out “kidnappings.” Most emphasize the need for a secure border and support deportations that target criminals, but they say today’s immigration efforts are shrouded in secrecy and lack accountability.

It represents a shift in how these Democrats plan to position themselves on one of the leading issues that swept Trump into office last year.

Read more from Natasha and Matt →

Trump's fundamental political dilemma on the economy

Analysis by Jonathan Allen

Whether or not President Donald Trump thinks there’s a problem with the economy, he has plenty of incentive not to say so out loud.

Sure, he runs the risk of sounding out of touch at a time when many Americans feel like they’re having a hard time keeping up, much less getting ahead. A new AP-NORC poll found that 31% of respondents approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, including a surprisingly low 69% of Republicans. And my conversations with voters in Pennsylvania and Michigan in recent weeks reflect similar sentiments.

But Trump will not be on the ballot again — so there’s no danger of him losing his job — and he doesn’t know whether the economy, real or perceived, will be stronger, weaker or the same when voters decide whether to keep Republican majorities in Congress next November.

What he does know, with certainty gained from a lifetime of salesmanship, is that bad-mouthing his own product is a terrible way to get anyone to buy it. That is, if he starts saying there’s an affordability problem, voters — and investors — are more likely to believe that and take actions that exacerbate the problem.

If voters feel better about the economy over the course of the next year, he would like to be able to take credit for having been right all along. If they don’t, Republican candidates are going to face a stiff headwind no matter what he says now.

In recent days, Trump has pivoted from outright denial of affordability as an issue for voters to arguing that the outlook is brighter than his critics say, in large part because of policies he has initiated but have yet to take full effect, from tariffs to tax cuts. During a speech in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, he said that “prices were too high” when he took over and that he has “no higher priority than making America affordable again.”

His visit to the northeastern corner of the state, which is expected to see one of the most competitive House races next year, implied an understanding that people are unhappy. And yet he stopped far short of a mea culpa or even a promise to adjust his agenda.

Trump’s not the first president to find himself in the unenviable position of selling an economic record that doesn’t stack up to public expectations. Even his immediate predecessor, Joe Biden, went through much the same thing — and also declined to alter his tack.

Most politicians, like most salesmen, see little upside in pointing out flaws. In that way, Trump is both a salesman and a politician when it comes to the economy.

That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.

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