When President Donald Trump huddled with campaign aides to discuss his reelection bid, senior adviser Jared Kushner told his father-in-law he should highlight last year’s passage of the First Step Act. Trump wasn’t interested and told Kushner he didn’t think his core voters would care much about a bipartisan deal for which he’s accused Democrats of trying to steal credit, Politico reports. “It was clear he thinks it’s a total dud,” said one source. “He made it abundantly clear he doesn’t think it’s worth talking about.” Kushner often told his tough-on-crime boss it was worth expending political capital to overcome the partisan divide on Capitol Hill and solidify his image as a pragmatic dealmaker. Now, Trump “is telling people he’s mad” at how criminal justice reform has panned out, one source says. “He’s really mad that he did it. He’s saying that he’s furious at Jared because Jared is telling him he’s going to get all these votes of all these felons.”
Now at campaign rallies, if he brings up criminal justice reform, it’s to mock his predecessors for their inability to get it done. Trump believes the subject lacks appeal to his base of rural and older white voters, who often respond better to hard-line rhetoric on law and order. Trump no longer sees criminal justice reform as a résumé booster heading into 2020. “It would be difficult to say it’s a change of heart. I don’t think his heart was ever really in it,” said one White House official, adding that some aides questioned why Trump endorsed the First Step Act. In response to this story, a White House official said, “This false premise is another convoluted contradictory, media-manufactured joke.” saying Trump is proud of a law “that data shows will save money, reduce crime and make communities safer.”