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US-POLITICS-TRUMP-KOCH-DONORS
Trump turns fire on top Republican donors
WASHINGTON, July 31, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump trained his
morning Twitter rage on two of the Republican Party’s leading donors Tuesday,
berating the powerful Koch brothers as “globalists”, “overrated” and “a total
joke.”
Lashing out at the aging industrialists — who have long bankrolled
conservative causes — Trump played down the pair’s importance to his party.
“Their network is highly overrated, I have beaten them at every turn,”
Trump said in a tirade that will shock party bigwigs.
Organizations backed by the brothers, Charles and David, are expected to
spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the run up to this year’s November
Congressional and state elections, which are vital to Trump’s political
future.
If Democrats wrestle back control of Congress, Trump’s agenda may be dead
in the water and the odds of his impeachment would be greatly increased.
“The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real
Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade,” Trump
tweeted.
Those comments follow a string of stories suggesting the brothers were not
happy with the current administration and considering scaling back their
political activities.
“They want to protect their companies outside the US from being taxed,”
Trump claimed, with the billionaire businessman framing himself as a champion
of the people.
“I’m for America First & the American Worker – a puppet for no one. Two
nice guys with bad ideas.”
The Kochs had been seen as an integral part of Republican efforts to sell
Trump’s tax reforms — which have spurred economic activity but exploded the
deficit.
The brothers have long been a bogeyman on America’s political left, but
have found common cause with Democrats on criminal justice reform and a
handful of other issues.
This is not the first time Trump has clashed with Republican Party
moneymen. During the 2016 campaign he fell out with billionaire hedge fund
manager Paul Singer, who funded many of his primary opponents.
BSS/AFP/RY/1815 hrs