Welcome back to Unfit to Print: the news you need to know, reporting a block from the White House.
Trump is on the verge of repeating a 20-year-old mistake by the Republican Party … let this serve as his warning.
Keep Your Base Happy
That’s the message to Trump. Keep your base happy. Sometimes the base is wrong. Like, for the Democrats, it’s probably not a good idea to keep rabid pro-trans activists happy by taking the wrong side of an 80-20 issue. But when your base is asking you for very reasonable things that most Americans support and instead you get co-opted by tech bros and mega corporations? Yeah, that’s a problem.
That’s the moment Trump finds himself in right now.
50-year mortgages? Pressuring Rep. Lauren Boebert to vote against a discharge petition to release the Epstein files? Agreeing to rehire federal workers into an already bloated government? 600,000 Chinese students studying at American universities? Insisting inflation is fine? Expanding H-1B visas?
That’s not why voters went for Trump. After a focused and aggressive first six months, the Trump administration seems to have lost the plot.
It’s time for a course correction.
Today, we’re going to focus on the last issue mentioned: expanding H-1B visas and other forms of legal immigration.
Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that America needs “to bring in talent.”
When Ingraham countered, “Well, we have plenty of talented people here,” Trump replied with a punch to America’s gut.
“No, you don’t,” the president said.
I’m sorry, what?
Certainly the Americans who were forced out of their jobs so that companies could pay lower wages are talented enough. Else, why would they be forced to train their foreign replacements? Certainly the 62% of STEM majors who work in a non-STEM field are talented enough. But they can’t compete with cheaper labor, so they seek out money elsewhere while foreign workers make up 29% of the sector.
Trump has done a lot of great things regarding cracking down on illegal immigration. And in September, he instituted a new $100,000 fee for new H-1B petitions, suggesting at least someone in the administration understands the threat of imported labor. Yet, consistently, when asked about the issue, Trump hems and haws and downplays the impact of legal immigration on American workers or outright insults our workforce by asserting we don’t have enough talent.
Even beyond the workforce, unfettered legal immigration drives up home prices — a key issue for young voters — and institutes deep-seated cultural changes that threaten the very fabric of our country, as I wrote in this newsletter last week.
Trump voters and Republican consultants have been texting me all week to warn me that the party needs to see the red flags ahead of next year’s midterms. One pointed to a similar debate within the Republican Party on immigration from 2006.
The Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress in that year’s midterms for the first time in 12 years. It was driven in part by discontent over the war and corruption in Congress, yes. But Republicans also lost their base after a series of missteps, including a civil war over how to handle immigration.
House Republicans voted to increase border security, while Senate Republicans voted for amnesty. Conservative radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh — RIP — excoriated the Senate GOP for being weak on the issue and demanded the construction of a border wall. The country itself was split on what to do about immigration; whether immigrants were a help or hindrance to America; whether legal immigration should be increased or decreased.
But the most diehard Republicans — those who actually show up to vote in elections — they felt betrayed by the party.
Trump risks finding himself in that same precarious moment from 2006, two decades later in 2026.
WHAT ELSE IS ON MY RADAR
Speaking of bad ideas…
Trump Allies Revolt Against Top Admin Official Who Gave President 50-Year Mortgage Idea
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What are your thoughts on this?
Is America’s Newest Friend A Threat To Christians?
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This is unreal.
Woman Breaks Up With Boyfriend and Marries an AI Character
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Big exclusive reporting from the great Reagan Reese, including on how Florida first lady Casey DeSantis’s gubernatorial bid ended before it began:
EXCLUSIVE: Trump, DeSantis Could Be Destined For Head-To-Head Rematch In Key GOP Primary
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IT’S OVER!
Six Democrats Join Republicans To Finally End Schumer Shutdown After 43 Days
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