White House 'frustrated and confounded' by 'foolish' MAGA senator with 2028 ambitions

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri at the 2023 Turning Point Action Conference in Palm Beach, Florida on July 16, 2023 (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

Donald Trump has reportedly been left "somewhere between frustrated and confounded" by the actions of a one-time MAGA ally who has made a habit of breaking with the president on key issues, with many in the White House suspecting 2028 ambitions are at play, according to Axios.

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, was once viewed as one of Trump's more staunch MAGA allies in Washington, D.C., attaining his biggest spotlight to date when he voted against certifying the 2020 election and famously raised his fist in support of the crowd that would become the Jan. 6 rioters. Since Trump's return to the White House, however, Hawley has broken with him on numerous issues, most notably on anti-abortion policies and presidential war powers.

In the wake of Trump's military incursion into Venezuela at the start of the year, Hawley was among the few Republicans who voted to advance a bill that would have limited the president's authority to use the military in the South American country. He ultimately changed course and voted against the bill, however, citing further discussions with Trump and the DOJ.

Sources in the White House told Axios that Hawley's moves in support of anti-abortion legislation are a clear sign that his recent behavior is motivated by a desire to launch his own bid for the presidency in 2028. The senator, with his wife, Erin Hawley, recently launched the Love Live Initiative, an organization focused on promoting anti-abortion legislation through national TV ads and advocating for ballot measures.

"We think that there needs to be a voice, strong voice, advocating for life, and not just in the narrow political sense, but also advocating culturally," Hawley told Axios back in December.

The White House called this decision "asinine" stupidity, citing the commonly accepted wisdom that anti-abortion policies after the overturning of Roe v. Wade contributed to the GOP underperforming in the 2022 midterms. Since taking office, Trump has largely shied away from the GOP's traditional views on abortion.

"[Hawley has] awful political instincts. If this is an attempt to set himself up for success in 2028, it's a foolish one," one anonymous Trump ally told Axios.

Another Republican source, described as an anonymous party "operative," said that while annoying for the White House, Hawley's moves were proving effective at helping him stand out.

"There's some consternation in the administration about Josh and he's gonna have to manage that," the operative explained. "But if Josh's goal is to put some daylight between him and Vice President [J.D.] Vance for his own branding, or for future political purposes, you have to say he's doing an effective job."

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