Several Republican lawmakers and candidates have started to publicly differentiate themselves from President Donald Trump on issues such as immigration, the war with Iran, data centers, and certain business decisions, with less than seven weeks remaining until the midterm elections on November 3rd.
A report published by NBC News highlighted several Republicans who are competing to maintain their positions in Congress or aspire to other offices and who, despite being members of the president's party, have expressed disagreements with some of his policies.
One of the examples is in Iowa. Republican representatives Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks voted this week for the first time in favor of a resolution to order the president to halt military actions in Iran unless they have authorization from Congress.
Nunn, a colonel in the Air Force Reserve and a veteran with over 700 hours of combat in the Middle East, explained that he will not support "another war without a defined end" and advocated for Congress to fulfill its constitutional responsibility.
"We can defend Americans, pressure Iran, and seek peace while ensuring that Congress fulfills its constitutional responsibility," he wrote.
Miller-Meeks, who served for 24 years in the Army, expressed a similar stance and called for Trump to present a plan to Congress and to the American people on how to end the conflict.
"I will not vote to keep our soldiers in an endless war while the residents of Iowa pay too much at the gas stations," he stated.
Trump won in 2024 the Miller-Meeks district by eight percentage points and the Nunn district by four. Both seats are considered competitive going into November, according to the report from NBC News.
Another Republican from Iowa, Ashley Hinson, a Senate candidate, also recently voiced differences with a decision made by the president. Although she voted against the resolution regarding Iran, she questioned the suspension of tariffs on ground beef imports advocated by Trump.
"I want to lower prices, but this is a bad idea," wrote Hinson, who instead advocated for reducing regulations and costs for American livestock producers.
Hinson also does not plan to attend a campaign event led by Vice President JD Vance in Iowa this Friday.
His team attributed the absence to scheduling conflicts, so this fact does not in itself represent a political rupture with the White House.
Differences also arise in other matters. The Republican representative from Michigan, Tom Barrett, recently launched an announcement about data centers in which he claims to have stood up against his own party, while the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved this week an initiative aimed at protecting consumers from increases in electricity bills associated with these facilities.
Also, NBC News reminded that Republican representative Ralph Alvarado from Kentucky removed several references to Trump from his campaign page after the primaries, although he maintains other mentions of the president's support.
The movement is not widespread within the Republican Party. Other congressmen facing competitive elections, such as Mike Lawler from New York and Derrick Van Orden from Wisconsin, have appeared alongside Trump during this election cycle and continue to seek to mobilize their supporters.
The moves come at a time when several polls indicate challenges for Trump in terms of approval.
At the beginning of September, a Focaldata survey for the Financial Times placed his approval rating at 33%, the lowest level recorded to date in that series of measurements.
The percentages vary depending on the survey, its methodology, and the population surveyed, but the report from NBC News itself indicates that the political landscape is leading some Republican candidates from competitive districts to publicly express differences with certain policies of the White House.
María Elvira Salazar brings her differences with Trump to the campaign
In this context, the case of the Cuban-American Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar stands out because she chose to turn her criticisms of the government's immigration policy into one of the first messages of her campaign for the general elections.
Salazar published a bilingual announcement this Thursday filmed in front of the White House, in which she directly warned Trump that some of his immigration policies "have gone too far".
"Mr. President, some of your immigration control measures have gone too far," stated the congresswoman, who cited the arrests made in July and asserted that a significant portion involved individuals with no criminal record.
"Be careful with what your advisors tell you about immigration policy. The same Hispanics who helped you reach the White House in 2024 now feel betrayed," he added in the English version of the announcement.
The message is particularly significant because Trump won Florida's 27th District, represented by Salazar, by 15 percentage points in 2024 and formally endorsed the congresswoman for her reelection in February.
The administration's response came just a few hours later. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) publicly responded to Salazar and made it clear that it will not change its deportation policy despite the legislator's criticism.
"Whether Congresswoman Salazar likes it or not, the men and women of ICE are enforcing the laws passed by Congress," stated a DHS spokesperson in a response provided to Fox News and shared by journalist Bill Melugin.
The Department also insisted that there will be "no amnesty" for immigrants without legal status and defended the deportation campaign promised by Trump.
Salazar's criticisms also sparked reactions within the conservative sector. Fox News commentator Tomi Lahren publicly urged Trump to withdraw his support for the congresswoman, labeling her stance as a "betrayal" of the president and his voters.
The differences between Salazar and the administration regarding immigration matters did not begin this week.
The congresswoman has advocated for solutions for immigrants who have been in the United States for years and have no criminal record, has called for answers for Cubans with I-220A, and is one of the main proponents of the so-called Dignity Act, a bipartisan immigration reform proposal.
At the same time, Salazar continues to support other priorities of Trump and the Republican Party, so her current criticisms represent differences over specific policies rather than a general break with the president.
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