ELECTION/GOP/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump is ramping up his political travel ahead of the midterm elections, eying November as the most potent referendum on his presidency even as he faces widespread condemnation over his administration’s ‘zero tolerance’ immigration policy. Trump’s focus on the midterms, which Republicans believe will come with an invigoration of the President’s loyal base, is welcome news for some Republicans focused on keeping their majority in the House. But those same operatives admit it also comes with significant political risk: Trump’s presence fires up Democrats, puts every race in a national context that can be detrimental to Republican candidates and risks knocking campaigns off message by forcing them to take on sticky issues like immigration. As Trump has increased his focus on the midterms, he has made clear this week that he plans to make immigration central to his messaging this campaign season. Revisiting the anti-immigrant attacks that animated much of his 2016 campaign, Trump pledged that the United States ‘will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee holding facility’ and argued that undocumented immigrants ‘pour into and infest our Country.'”
-Dan Merica, “Trump ramps up midterm travel as Republicans grow worried about immigration debate,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, June 20, 2018 7:31 am