WSJ editorial board hits Trump over border deal, MAGA ‘purge’

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board hit former President Trump over his meddling in congressional talks on border security and his recent threat to donors to GOP presidential primary Nikki Haley’s campaign in a pair of Thursday editorials.

Earlier this week, Trump made a threat to Haley’s donors in a post on Truth Social, saying anyone who contributes to the former United Nations ambassador would be “permanently barred from the MAGA camp.” In response, the WSJ editorial board said if Trump and his allies “spend the coming months trying to purify the GOP of everyone who won’t kiss his ring, it will be a high act of self-sabotage” in a Thursday editorial.

“It will also be a good reason to vote for someone else,” the WSJ editorial board wrote.

The editorial on the border deal goes after the former president for his antagonism toward a possible deal on Ukraine aid and border security reform in Congress. 

“Mr. Trump may imagine he can strike his own border deal if he wins, but that’s highly unlikely. Democrats are willing to discuss asylum and parole changes now because President Biden and Democrats are suffering in the polls from the ugly scenes on television,” the editorial reads. 

“If Mr. Trump returns to Washington, the left will revert to its factory settings of opposing all Trump priorities,” the editorial continues. “Especially if Mr. Trump sabotages a bipartisan deal now.”

Republicans in the Senate who are in favor of sending aid to Ukraine and working out a deal with Democrats on border security are staking their hopes on those who are close to Trump, hoping they can prevent him from sinking it.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, requested that colleagues who have endorsed the former president ask him to stop disparaging the deal pending a review of its details by lawmakers this week. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told fellow Republican Senators on Wednesday that being able to pass border security reforms tied with Ukraine is becoming harder than originally expected. He also noted that the former president’s antagonism toward any border security deal could be impossible to push past.