Behind the Curtain: Trump's new 2024 plan
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Former President Trump speaks at Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami on Tuesday evening. Photo: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Former President Trump is adjusting his agenda, the GOP platform, his vice-presidential plans — even his debate style — to win over more than a half-dozen persuadable voter groups in seven states, advisers tell us.
Why it matters: Starting with the debate, every Trump move — from personally editing the Republican platform to lying low while President Biden's debate debacle sucked up attention — has been designed to nudge double-haters and truly undecided voters.
State of play: The Trump campaign sees a clearer map emerging, with these swing states being hardest to easiest to win, in this order: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada and Arizona. (You could flip the first two, but the campaign puts Pennsylvania first because it's the biggest swing state, and because Biden desperately needs it.)
- Job 1 for the V.P. nominee, besides raising money, will be to park in Pennsylvania to try to deny Biden the biggest of his Blue Wall states. The Rust Belt appeal of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) helped rocket him to one of the finalist slots to be Trump's running mate.
- The Trump-orchestrated platform adopted this week by the Republican National Committee targets very specific groups in these states — most notably Rust Belt, working-class, white voters ... plus security-focused moms who are skeptical of Trump's style but care about the border and crime ... Hispanic, working-class men ... and Nevada bartenders angered by high taxes on tips.
Behind the scenes: Trump wants and assumes Biden is his opponent. He tells friends Biden's debate performance and age are gifts from the political gods. No longer is he seen as the old, selfish guy in it for his own vainglory and personal power, friends joke.
- After debate prep with senior adviser Jason Miller and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Trump dropped the retribution threats and Jan. 6 celebrations (two things he has undeniably and consistently supported). Advisers have told him that both turn off swing voters. Some Trump allies find Gaetz creepy, but said he's shockingly good at channeling Biden in debate prep.
- Trump rolled the RNC on abortion (the platform doesn't call for a nationwide ban, for the first time in 40 years) and same-sex marriage (no longer a reference to "traditional marriage" between "one man and one woman") to win over voters he knows are wary. Trump sources tell us they tried to thread a needle of broadening the party's appeal without offending the evangelical voters who propelled Trump into office.
The timing of Trump's effort to distance himself from the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, with 922 pages of hard-right policy prescriptions, was no coincidence.
- Trump personally wanted to trash it just before approving the RNC platform.
- Project 2025 was drafted in part by former Trump advisers, and captures a lot of his thinking. But he complained that Heritage was trying to build credibility and clout off his name. Controversial parts of the plan could overshadow his more popular ideas, he warned.
- Trump wants all 20 pillars on the platform's cheat seat to either electrify his base or entice the micro-groups of persuadable voters his campaign is focused on. Trump — sometimes with a Sharpie or felt pen, sometimes over the phone with policy and speechwriting aide Vince Haley — personally edited every line of the 16-page platform, including commas and adjectives. Hence the Trumpian all-caps and Trump language.
What we're watching: Trump wants the platform to set the stage for the Republican National Convention, which opens Monday in Milwaukee. Reality TV star Amber Rose will have a slot. Early plans had 50 Cent among prime-time surprises, to portray Trump as connected to popular culture (think mixed martial arts).
- Trump always wants choreographed celebrity — the more surprising, the better. But it's unclear whether he got the biggest possible gets.
- The mission, which is reflected in the convention's four nightly themes ("make America wealthy/safe/strong/great once again"): Show Trump as more than white MAGA.
Between the lines: Trump didn't get the post-debate polling bounce some advisers hoped for. Yes, his numbers inched up nationally. But he's still neck-and-neck with Biden, despite overwhelming Democratic fears about his age.
- Trump knows he needs to win over more men, especially Black and Hispanic voters, without scaring off more women.
- But Trump's advisers don't see moderation as the only way to win over persuadables. The new platform has immigration as the No. 1 and 2 issues, and proudly trumpets "the largest mass deportation in history." It's the one issue that plays well with almost every micro-group on the internal list.
The bottom line: Trump sees hypermasculine appeal as an edge. As a Trump adviser put it to us: "Trump sees Biden as a physical manifestation of Democratic policies."
- Go deeper: Last 11 columns.
