Top Republicans suggested on Sunday that Donald Trump needs more public policy schooling, particularly on foreign affairs, to earn the confidence of a fractured party and show he’s ready to take on likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
“I think he’s going to need to learn. He’s going to need to understand really completely … how complex this world is,” said Trump’s top Senate ally and top foreign policy adviser, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
To Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., Trump “is a work in progress,” more so than most candidates. “Usually you know a lot more about a candidate because they’ve run for other things. They’ve cast votes. They’ve done things. And he does have a shoot-from-the-hip style.”
GOP officials are still trying to determine who should be the leading voice for the party barely six months before Americans choose their next president in a likely showdown between Trump and Clinton, a former senator and secretary of state. Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who held a high-profile meeting in Washington last week, represent two Republican factions. Ryan has said he is not yet ready to back Trump.
With strong opposition among some in the party to Trump, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus used the term “suicide mission” to describe any effort to entice an independent, anti-Trump candidate.
Trump and Ryan said after their meeting Thursday that they were committed to unifying the party despite their differences over immigration, Muslim immigrants, taxes, benefit programs and trade. The discussion seemed to thaw relations enough to make a reconciliation seem possible, and the men spoke of keeping the lines of communication open and of finding common ground.
Other Republicans are describing what that means to them.
Ryan’s predecessor as speaker, John Boehner, said at a conference of finance industry leaders in Las Vegas on Thursday that he endorsed Trump and that Ryan probably was “trying to help shape the direction of Trump’s policies.”
What concerns many Republicans is the prospect of their backing Trump and then having him stumble over the party’s core policy issues. For example, he once suggested in an MSNBC interview that there should be “some form of punishment” for women who have had abortions. Ultimately, Trump said abortion providers, not women, were the ones who should be punished if abortions were outlawed.
The policy education for Trump and his team appears to be underway.
A few weeks ago, top aide Paul Manafort spent about an hour at the conservative Heritage Foundation Washington as part of what the think tank described as an ongoing series of policy briefings for candidates and their advisers. Other Trump officials have been meeting with individual members of the House. Trump himself met with senators on the same day he met with Ryan, and many emerged describing an open-minded, even earnest candidate.
And lately, Trump has taken to describing his policy proposals as merely “suggestions.”
But Trump also has said he’s his own best foreign policy adviser.
By Sunday, GOP figures were widely acknowledging Trump’s learning curve and urging patience.
Sessions said Trump has much to learn about how to talk about matters of war.
“It’s just a very, very complex world and you have to be careful when you commit a military force,” Sessions said.
Session and Cole were on ABC’s “This Week,” and Priebus appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
I can understand a certain amount of caution and questioning, but I understand also that most of the anxiety can be eliminated by contemplating the obvious. First of all, there are no rational business people that want to make enemies with anyone, especially Trump who is world renowned for his success in business. Therefore, it is ludicrous to think that Trump is a hotheaded punk who wants to destroy the world. Then they mention “education” on foreign policy. Folks, I don’t care what career you choose, you never come out of school knowing all the answers. I have had the honor of training many people who had a much higher degree than myself. Trump has said many times that he intends to surround himself with knowledgeable people. That is education enough IMHO. “A wise man will hear, and increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels” (Prov. 1:5)
My insurance i now have is cheaper.
James, You must be one of the 350000 as opposed to 325,000,000.
President Obama started with no back ground knowledge. That’s why Presidents have staff advisers, or whatever you want to call them. Nothing better then Genera Military Officers to help the President make decisions. Also Secretarys of (Name it). It’s good to be surrounded by such wise people in each department. It’s also good to have around the table discussions, so as to not allow one person to make a President look like an idiot…
YES FOR THE RNC