Some of President Donald Trump’s top campaign advisers launched a political group so as to boost the acceptance of some of the White House’s policies. However, the group has been clearly absent as the President begins selling his agenda. The spread of his ideas and policies has been slowed down significantly by delays in staffing, an internal struggle for control within his flanks as well as the efforts to win over donors.
The group, named America First Policies, was supposed to provide strong support to the President’s ideas as well as assist him in explaining his policies to the public. Kellyanne Conway once promised that the organization would provide a “surround-sound superstructure” that encouraged the President to achieve his aims for the country. However, it has been nearly two months since the group’s launch, and the little activity it has had has only been during its press release.
Members of the group have also seen the lack of progress. “To say that the folks inside the White House are disappointed that there’s been no air support in the first 50 days is an understatement. Things have moved very slowly, and there’s a lot of frustration that things need to move faster,” said one of America First Policies’ members.
The nonprofit organization in support of Trump’s policies has been received well by donors. So far, the group has amassed $25 million in commitments and banked more than half of the said figure. These fundraising efforts are in line with Trump’s efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, changing the tax code system and getting his nominee for the Supreme Court confirmed by the Senate.
“It’s an urgent appeal. We’ve been really encouraged by the response,” said Marty Obst. Marty is a former adviser for Vice President Mike Pence and is currently in charge of amassing donations for America First Policies.
Despite the promising efforts from the group, it still faces various hardships. The organization is currently undergoing a staff review. As a result, Brad Parscale, who ran President Trump’s digital campaign last year, will take on a lesser role at the organization. Parscale was supposed to be the group’s president in the initial plan. However, he will now only be one of the multiple group’s leaders amongst other members.
Further, another group of people is planning to set up a separate nonprofit group so as to compete with America First Policies. The group will have backing from the Mercer family, who were notable donors of President Trump’s campaign. The family has sought strict control of how its political donations are spent. With the formation of this second nonprofit, the family could finally realize this authority. A third group could also be in the process of being formed.
The formation of two or more nonprofit organizations to boost Trump’s policies could be at an imminent disadvantage to the White House. Previous experiences in the 2016 election campaign showed that more than one nonprofit organization backing President Trump caused inefficiencies as well as donor confusion. This is because donors did not know what group to make commitments to and in some cases where the money it had donated was used.
America First Policies has admitted its slow start and said that it was as a result of the Trump administration’s staff delays. However, one official commented that “We’ve now gotten to the point where everything is lined up, and money is being raised.”
