Trump Feud with Koch Network Exposes GOP Rift

“President Trump’s tight grip on the Republican Party is being openly challenged by the powerful network of ideological conservatives linked to billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, splaying out long-simmering tensions over the party’s future just months before the midterm elections,” the Washington Post reports.

”The Koch network pointedly declined to endorse Trump as a presidential candidate in 2016. But this latest feud — following last weekend’s gathering at which Koch-affiliated officials sought to distance their operation from Trump — has exposed the rift between a president pushing his party toward populism, and establishment Republicans espousing the long-standing policy of free trade.”

Playbook: “The Koch network is getting a lot of ink for standing up to Trump and saying it won’t dole out big campaign checks in certain races this cycle. But, it’s not like they are going to support a bunch of Democrats and really put any effort into changing the political makeup of Congress.”