Like Greene, former Texas Republican Party Chairman Tom Pauken was “cautiously optimistic” about Trump’s second administration, but told the Washington Examiner he has become “very disappointed” in it because of the president’s interventionist foreign policy and military adventurism.

“He ran on a policy of, you know, no more neoconservative-driven wars, and instead completely reversed himself and allowed him to be surrounded by, principally by foreign policy advisers who want to continue this series of endless wars,” Pauken said. “I don’t think we’re finding our way back as I’d hoped we would in this term so far.”

Pauken’s criticism amplifies Greene’s complaints expressed in the aftermath of Trump’s capture of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and proposal that the U.S. “run” the resource-rich country.

“America First. Not foreign countries,” Greene wrote on X earlier this month. “Americans care about good paying jobs, affordable housing, affordable healthcare and health insurance, a good prosperous future for their children, and the ability to live their American dream. It’s really not that complicated. Put Americans first!”

Pauken also criticized the “erratic” nature of Trump’s tariff policies, contending “you never know from one day to another what the policy is there” as the president ramps up pressure on NATO ally Denmark to sell him Greenland by introducing a 10% duty on it, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland from Feb. 1. 

“I understand the principle of tariffs,” Pauken said. “I do think we have been at a disadvantage with our trading partners for decades, and he’s trying to correct that, and I think that’s the right course. It’s how you go about it and implementing it. I don’t think he’s done a good job at that.”

Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia under former president Barack Obama, said on the Greenland posture is, “wasting American resources and blowing up the most successful alliance in the history of the world, to annex a territory that we do not need, is Trump First, not America First.”

Former Rep. Philip English (R-PA) similarly complained “spasmodic tariff levies to coerce allies on unrelated issues show diminishing returns and are an ineffective response to Chinese merchantilism.”

Focus on the economy

More broadly, English recommended that Trump spend “every day demonstrating that jobs, family incomes, costs, and opportunities are priority one.”

“Working families are still hurting, and Trump now owns the economy,” the now-co-chair of ArentFox Schiff’s government relations group, told the Washington Examiner before referring to the One Big Beautiful Bill. “The Trump administration has steered a major pro-growth tax reform through Congress, but nobody has noticed. The administration and congressional allies need to explain the legislation and debunk the zero-sum criticism of the tax program from the Left.”

The White House defended Trump’s economy, arguing “anyone who hasn’t gotten distracted by contrived fake news scandals knows full well that turning the page on [former President] Joe Biden’s affordability crisis has been a Day One priority” for him.

“That’s why, on a near-weekly basis, the Trump administration has rolled out one policy after another to deliver economic relief for the American people, from energy abundance to rapid deregulation to tax cuts – and that’s also why inflation has cooled, and GDP growth has accelerated over the past year,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told the Washington Examiner.

To that end, Trump did travel to Detroit last week to promote his economic agenda, and he also held an event at the White House to underscore his rural healthcare policies after Democrats used last year’s historically long federal government shutdown to emphasize Republican opposition to extending pandemic-era Obamacare health insurance premium subsidies. 

But Trump’s messages were overshadowed, in part, by the president’s own desire to “own” Greenland, not to mention speculation he was poised to order a military strike against Iran amid the regime’s deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests, and Venezuelan Opposition Leader Maria Corina Machado presenting him with her Nobel Peace Prize during her trip to the White House.

On tariffs specifically, Desai added: “Any honest assessment would make clear that President Trump has successfully demonstrated the power of tariffs and the weight of the American economy over the past year – the administration has secured over a dozen trade deals with some of our most important trading partners, and trillions in investments to make and hire in America are pouring in thanks to tariffs.” 

Regardless, Republican strategists have repeatedly told the Washington Examiner that they would advise Trump to stand firmly on the economy.

“Looking ahead, the biggest lesson is that voters want tangible results,” Cesar Conda, a founding partner of Republican lobbying firm Navigators Global, said. “Between now and the midterms [elections], the priority should be addressing cost-of-living pressures and using every available legislative tool, including reconciliation, to deliver immediate, meaningful relief for working families.”

Former Republican National Committee communications director Douglas Heye agreed: “[Trump’s] numbers are as low as they’ve been and threaten legislative majorities. Voters are crystal clear that their biggest concern is the economy and prices, and yet while Trump’s focus changes almost daily, it’s seldom on what voters want to hear.”

At the same time, Pauken praised Trump for trying to get credit card interest rates “under control,” recognizing the president’s attempts to lower mortgage interest rates were complicated by the housing market.

“The real problem is it’s overpriced, and so it’s got to come down, and that’s not going to be easy,” he said. “I like the idea that he’s trying to get manufacturing back to the U.S., but that takes a long period of time once you lose it. So it’s a very difficult situation that he faces before the midterm [elections].”

Notwithstanding the feedback, the White House on Monday celebrated Trump’s first year in office, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling the Washington Examiner that Trump, among other accomplishments, has restored “American strength on the world stage.” 

In particular, Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters cited how Trump is “bringing prices down, unleashing American energy, securing the border, and rebuilding our military.” 

VANCE POSITIONED FOR WHAT COMES AFTER TRUMP, A YEAR AFTER INAUGURATION

“President Trump is putting America first every single day, and this is only the beginning — the best is still ahead,” Gruters told the Washington Examiner.

Perhaps Republican strategist Lanhee Chen, policy director of Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, summed it up best in an email to the Washington Examiner: “Like it or not, the presidency, and our expectations of a president, will never be the same after Donald J. Trump – and that’s exactly as he intended.”