The Memo: Trump battles mounting controversies

President Trump is mired in multiple controversies as his 100th day in office nears.

The furors are of very different kinds, but the collective storm poses real danger to his political fortunes.

On Monday, U.S. stock indices endured another grim day with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling by almost 1,000 points. The broader-based S&P 500 has declined more than 10 percent over the past month, while the dollar hit a three-year low on Monday.

The same day, on a very different topic, Harvard University sued the Trump administration over a freeze of more than $2 billion in federal funding. 

The storied college and the White House are in an escalating war of words, with Team Trump complaining about an alleged failure to confront antisemitism effectively and Harvard firing back that the administration is making unreasonable demands that would erode its independence.

Harvard’s choice to fight back is a notable break from other major institutions, such as Columbia University, which in effect caved to Trump’s demands.

Meanwhile, the row over deportations in general — and the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in particular — rumbles on.

The Supreme Court in the early hours of Saturday issued an emergency order blocking the administration from deporting any more people under the Alien Enemies Act, although the government is trying to get that stay lifted.

As if all that were not enough, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is the subject of another damaging story, after The New York Times reported that he shared details of a then-imminent attack on Houthi rebels in Yemen on a chat on the messaging app Signal. Among the chat participants were Hegseth's wife, brother and personal lawyer.

This was a different chat from the one that already caused a storm for the Trump administration after The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was inadvertently added to a conversation that included many of the most senior figures in the administration. Goldberg ended up becoming privy to discussions about the sequencing of the attack before it took place.

Each of the current controversies is very different in its political impact.

Trump has, for example, sought to ramp up the dispute about deportations. He has been joined in that effort by key aides such as Stephen Miller. Miller has taken a more aggressive stance on the Abrego Garcia deportation, arguing that it was justified despite lawyers for the administration earlier admitting that it was an error.

This suggests the president and those close to him believe the topic is a political winner, even though the legality of deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador seems extremely flimsy. 

Team Trump is betting that, whatever the legal niceties, the political argument that Democrats are defending a foreign-born gang member will win the day. (Attorneys for Abrego Garcia deny that accusation.)

The economy, however, seems a much different story from a political standpoint.

The stock market decline and related economic troubles could move voters in what remains of the center ground.

There are already signs of such a shift occurring.

A CNBC All-America Economic Survey released over the weekend found Trump registering his lowest-ever ratings on the economy as president, including during his first term. The poll showed 55 percent of surveyed Americans disapproving of Trump’s handling of the economy, while just 43 percent approved.

Those findings are part of a picture in which Trump’s overall approval ratings have turned tepid in several recent surveys.

A CBS News poll found Trump 6 points underwater on his overall job approval (47 percent approval to 53 percent disapproval), an Economist/YouGov poll by 8 points (45 percent approval to 53 percent disapproval), and a Gallup poll by 9 points (44 percent approval to 53 percent disapproval). All of those polls were conducted this month.

That is the kind of atmosphere in which issues like Hegseth’s Signal chat can become more problematic.

The secretary of Defense, who faced scrutiny for his comparatively slight managerial experience during his confirmation process, has hit back hard against the Times story, alleging it is part of an effort to smear him.

The controversy may have some legs. On Monday, NPR reported that the White House had begun looking for a replacement for Hegseth to lead the Pentagon.

But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took to social media to insist the NPR report was “total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about.”

The Hegseth story followed the firing of two aides who had been close to the secretary as well as the resignation of former Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot.

Ullyot promptly penned an opinion piece for Politico in which he described “a month of total chaos at the Pentagon” and contended that “the building is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership.”

Trump on Monday insisted “there’s no dysfunction at all,” adding, “Pete’s doing a great job. Everybody’s happy with him.”

But there are some stirrings of Republican discontent over Hegseth.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told reporters that, if the second Signal chat had indeed taken place in the manner described, it would be “totally unacceptable.”

Republican unease is much more vocal on the economy, and specifically on the question of tariffs.

Trump’s so-called Liberation Day announcement of high tariffs on nations around the globe sparked a stock market sell-off that has not finished yet — despite the president suspending some of those levies.

While Republican officeholders are reluctant to directly condemn Trump, several have expressed the hope that the ardor for tariffs will be short-lived.

To be sure, Trump still has the fervent loyalty of his base. And even on controversial issues like immigration, he continues to score highly for his general approach in polls. Just as importantly, perhaps, he has no more elections left to run.

But his party colleagues, looking ahead to the midterms, will get more uneasy if the blizzard of controversies continues.

The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.