Koch brothers total joke in Republican circles, says Trump
The billionaire industrialists have said they will not help the Republican candidate in North Dakota’s senate race.
US president Donald Trump has called the conservative Koch brothers “a total joke in real Republican circles”.
His comment follows an announcement that the political network created by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch would not help the Republican candidate in North Dakota’s senate race.
The group has warned that Republican party is not doing enough to contain government spending.
The Koch brothers did not endorse Mr Trump in 2016.
The president tweeted: “The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade. I never sought their support because I don’t need their money or bad ideas.”
He later added: “I’m for America First & the American Worker – a puppet for no one. Two nice guys with bad ideas.”
Mr Trump is expected to travel to Tampa, Florida, to express support for his preferred candidate for governor in a competitive primary.
The president is planning a rally in support of congressman Ron DeSantis, who faces off against state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in the state’s August 28 Republican primary.
Another Trump ally, governor Rick Scott, is joining the president at an event earlier in the day.
Mr Scott is seeking to defeat Democratic senator Bill Nelson in a high-profile senate race.
Mr Trump has played a role in several Republican primaries, helping candidates in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina in recent weeks with endorsements that underline his influence within the party.
However, the president’s policies have been at odds with the Kochs’ political arm, Americans For Prosperity. The group said it still plans to focus its resources on helping Republican senate candidates in Tennessee, Florida and Wisconsin.
Charles Koch told reporters in recent days that he cared little for party affiliation and regretted supporting some Republicans in the past who only paid lip service to conservative principles.
The Trump White House budget office now predicts that next year’s federal deficit will exceed one trillion dollars, while reaching a combined eight trillion dollars over the next 10 years.
The Kochs were equally concerned about the Trump administration’s “protectionist” trade policies, which have sparked an international trade war and could trigger a US recession, Charles Koch said.
He vowed: “We’re going to be much stricter if they say they’re for the principles we espouse and then they aren’t.
“We’re going to more directly deal with that and hold people responsible for their commitments.”
