INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — For the Koch brothers and their powerful donor network, the trouble with President Donald Trump isn’t what he’s doing. It’s how he’s doing it.
Huddled at a private retreat in the California desert, the conservative movement’s elite money men worried aloud this weekend that the Republican president’s undisciplined behavior is clouding his achievements — and making it harder for the GOP to protect its grip on Congress heading into the 2018 midterms.
“President Trump is not helping get many Republicans elected,” said Tom Shepherd, a Cincinnati-based businessman who joined roughly 550 Koch donors at a private retreat in the California desert this weekend. “I think he’s doing more harm than good because he’s distracting people from the good work which is happening, which is either happening because of him or in spite of him.”