Trump’s Cabinet Is Hitting The Road To Talk His Agenda. They’re Getting An Earful Instead.

President Donald Trump is fanning out his Cabinet across the country to sell his accomplishments and shore up key constituencies ahead of the midterms.

It isn’t quite working out that way.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited New Hampshire last week to tout natural gas pipelines and got hit with questions about $4 gasoline prices. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was in Iowa over the weekend ostensibly to rally farmers and instead had to defend Trump’s decision to import foreign beef, which sparked outcry among cattle ranchers.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in Florida to talk about school nutrition, faced questions about a Pennsylvania measles outbreak and ended up in a protracted fight with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro over whether the virus is responsible for two deaths.

Even Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a veteran of Wall Street, is struggling to win over some of his former colleagues, who are skeptical of his “economic D-Day” plan to end the Iran war and downright hostile to his attempt to lower the interest rate the federal government pays on long-term debt.

The Cabinet kerfuffle comes at a time when the president’s envoys are needed most. The midterms are less than three months away, the president’s approval rating is near record-lows and the White House is on a mission to remind voters of all it believes it has accomplished in the last two years, including a spate of tax cuts, improved border security and reductions in violent crime.

The Cabinet barnstorming is key to the administration’s midterms messaging strategy. Secretaries have used visits to promote administration policy and gin up local news coverage.

But Rollins’ recent visit to Iowa is emblematic of the broad discontent the administration is contending with, and the ways its surrogates are being knocked off message by an electorate that is deeply skeptical of some of its policies. That includes some historically loyal constituencies: Ranchers and farmers are furious over Trump’s recent decision to import 300,000 metric tons of beef and sell them at discounted prices. Rollins did not disown the decision — defending Trump’s focus on lowering prices for consumers — but didn’t exactly embrace it either, telling reporters earlier this week that she hadn’t discussed the specific policy with the president.

“If you just look at how it’s animating people here, if you just look at the breadth of the headlines coming out from it, it’s a challenge. It has legs, to be honest,” said one Republican operative in Iowa, granted anonymity to address the fallout from the beef announcement. “You don’t have to go further than to look at how [Democratic gubernatorial candidate] Rob Sand and them are using it. They clearly think it’s an issue.”

Had Trump not made the announcement, which is intended to lower grocery prices, “it might have been just more of a routine thing like, ‘Heck yeah we want her here,’” the person added.

A Rollins spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is making it harder for communities to oppose new data centers at the very moment there is a bipartisan outcry against them. And immigration hardliners have soured on Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, as MAGA continues to rail against what they view as lagging deportation numbers. The administration this week launched a messaging blitz to tout record ICE arrests and efforts to clamp down on legal immigration — in what appears to be a bid to rebut the criticism.

“Everyone in MAGA knows Markwayne Mullin is a squish on immigration enforcement — look at the lack of [temporary protected status] removals or work site raids — they have to hide him,” said Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist. “Bobby, Bessent, Marco you can promote, DHS no way.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record, said in a statement that under Mullin, “ICE is working around the clock every day to arrest and deport the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from American communities. The results speak for themselves.”

“We are all focused on delivering on the President’s mission to deport illegal aliens and protect the homeland. Anyone who says otherwise is just trying to sow division and create an illusion of chaos,” the person said.

Still, the litany of frustrations and distractions underscore the challenge facing the Trump administration as it works to stay on message in the final sprint ahead of the midterms.

“Instead of assuring voters, they end up raising more questions and sometimes showing the liability that this entire administration has across the board. It’s hard to point to a good spokesman or even a high point in this administration right now, and certainly the polls reflect it,” said Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist who served in Trump’s first administration. “So I’m just not sure that sending every Cabinet member and their mother out on the campaign trail is going to help. Instead of solving a problem, you end up creating divisions.”

White House aides pushed back on the idea that Cabinet secretaries haven’t been on message, arguing that they frequently discuss many topics of importance to the American people.

“President Trump has assembled the most talented Cabinet in American history who work every day to implement his common sense, America First agenda,” said White House spokesperson Olivia Wales.

And Cabinet members do have their strengths and can still call attention to administration achievements.

On Wednesday, Kennedy was in Tampa with Florida Sen. Ashley Moody to unveil a new school nutrition program. The secretary has often been deployed to persuade MAHA voters that Trump is in their corner even as some are disappointed with the administration on certain issues, such as its protection of glyphosate.

One person close to the White House, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said that Kennedy in particular remains a key asset to the administration because he is the rare Cabinet member with his own distinct constituency, and dismissed concerns that the measles outbreak would overshadow the secretary’s efforts to communicate the administration’s message.

“Bobby’s super popular with huge-ass swaths of the party,” the person said. “Sometimes you have to be a little more strategic, but he is very well liked.”

HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard, in a statement, noted that Kennedy in August completed an 18-day tour “to bring the MAHA agenda directly to communities” and said that he would “continue engaging directly with Americans while delivering on President Trump’s promise to Make America Healthy Again.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth received high marks when he rallied at a veteran-focused fund-raising event at the Iowa State Fair alongside Reps. Zach Nunn, who is running for governor, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a vulnerable Republican up for re-election, and Ashley Hinson, a Republican running for a competitive, open Senate seat.

And the Cabinet appears poised to keep traveling. Bessent is headed to North Carolina to address the Charlotte Economics Club as many Republicans continue to see the Treasury secretary as a strong messenger on economic issues — as well as girding against criticism of the Iran war.

“Bessent is such a good Swiss Army knife on issues and as a communicator because he projects confidence and competence at the same time on such a range of topics,” said Matt Whitlock, a GOP strategist and former National Republican Senatorial Committee senior adviser. “Whether it’s broad questions about the economy or how we are actively putting pressure on Iran, he always seems to have a pretty good answer and idea for what the administration is doing.”

A Treasury official, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said that Bessent, as he travels the country, is “seeing something national reporters continue to miss: real people aren't living online or caught up in the D.C. bubble. They're focused on their families, their jobs, and the opportunities that President Trump’s policies are creating.”

Iowa Republicans may be less thrilled about Rollins, who is set to return to the state on Tuesday to speak at the Farm Progress Show.

“Trump has a good story to tell on the economy with respect to the tax cut and with respect to the investment that’s coming,” said economist Stephen Moore, a former Trump adviser. But “if people are going to start confronting her on beef prices or egg prices or whatever it might be, it’s better to avoid being in the spotlight so you don't get set up.”