Donald Trump has remade the Republican Party in his image. Chris Sununu doesn’t think it’s here to stay.
That’s because the outgoing Republican New Hampshire governor, who has constantly wavered between supporting and criticizing Trump, believes his party is bigger than its enduring standard-bearer and the political movement he created.
“Mr. Trump is very unique. For better or worse, there is no ‘Trumpite’ or ‘Trump 2.0’ that can replace or replicate what he brings to the table,” Sununu said in an interview.
And the Republican Party remains a “big tent,” he argues, keeping in check a diverse constituency of log cabin Republicans, fiscal hawks, libertarian-minded individuals, and social conservatives.
This needs to be true if Sununu wants a future in politics, at least beyond the pundits. Sununu, the scion of a New Hampshire political dynasty whose old-school Republican brand gave way to hardliners and flamethrower in the Trump era, has been reelected three times and is consistently among the nation’s most popular governors. Ranked as 1 person. He is bucking the pro-Trump leanings of his party.
But Sununu, who has declined to seek a fifth term, has a mixed track record of passing on his success within the MAGA-dominated Republican Party to other like-minded politicians. Just this year, he helped elect former Sen. Kelly Ayotte as his successor, but failed to get former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley over the finish line in the Granite State’s Republican presidential primary. And even if he were to seek higher office himself, there is no obvious constituency outside of New England.
Sununu, 50, who is running for Senate in 2022 and president in 2024, insists he has no intention of running for either office, at least for the next few years. Instead, he says he’s content to return to the private sector and, as he likes to say, “make some money.”
As he prepares to take over the position he has held for eight years, Sununu spoke at length about his tenure in an interview with POLITICO. Efforts to reduce opioid overdose deathshow he plans to stay involved in politics, why he still largely opposes the legalization of recreational marijuana, and how Trump doesn’t have as much of a vise grip on the Republican Party as it seems. .
This conversation has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
What do you think is your biggest policy accomplishment as governor?
When I first ran for governor, the two biggest issues facing the state were clearly the opioid epidemic and the mental health crisis. We have reinvented our recovery-friendly workplace program with a focus on access to care in rural areas. It was really about opening up access.
President Trump has talked a lot about trying to stem the flow of the opioid substance fentanyl across the southern border. Do you think the policies he’s proposing could help with that?
The biggest problem with the fentanyl crisis is open borders. Closing borders will definitely make it harder for those substances to get in.
How would you like to see Trump and Congressional Republicans approach the border issue? We’ve had a plan since last year…
The plan was terrible. Key to all of this is not just closing borders, but making ports of entry more robust to handle the large number of people who may wish to come into contact in a legal, authorized and processed manner. That’s it. And most importantly, the “Remain in Mexico” policy must be reinstated. Apart from closing illegal border crossings, we need immigration reform that addresses creating more modernized pathways for people to become citizens in the right way.
Do you think President Trump’s massive deportation plan is the right way to go?
This is especially true for criminals. They are definitely the first people to be deported. Beyond that, Congress and the president can work on the next steps, but I think they need to be broken down in stages.
Let’s go back to New Hampshire for a moment. I want to talk about cannabis. Although you were mostly skeptical about legalizing recreational cannabis, It was also rejected by the state legislature this year.. Why should New Hampshire miss out on tax revenue when all surrounding states provide access to it?
Don’t legalize drugs for money. That’s terrible. If you’re legalizing marijuana because you need more money, your state is deeply dysfunctional. So there are ethics and health issues here. The same can be said for almost all governors. [in the surrounding New England states] They pointed out to me that there are various problems with marijuana legalization. Whether it’s worsening mental health issues, the black market that marijuana fundamentally creates, advertising issues, or proximity to schools that creates a lot of problems for parents. There are many reasons not to do that. If you try to do it here, [you would need to do so in a] It is a responsible and controlled way to keep children away and allow the state to control marketing messages. I would have left it half open if that’s possible controlled in the right way.
Before the election, we talked about abortion and how to get it done. Democrats were hard at work on the issue in New Hampshire.. You said this issue is becoming less important and that voters are more concerned about the economy. The Republican Party won the gubernatorial election, but what is your current evaluation?
In 2022, Roe vs. Wade It had just happened. It was much more of an unknown problem. Now another two years have passed. The people of New Hampshire — no one is denying abortion, no one is denying their rights. [the state restricts abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions]. In other words, the fear-mongering wasn’t true. Individual states and locations may be more or less restrictive, but that’s up to voters. [in those states] To decide. It will still be an issue, but it won’t be the political backbreaker issue Democrats are hoping for.
Do you think there is still room within the Republican Party to criticize Trump if necessary?
Of course there is. did [former Rep.] Matt Gaetz just removed from nomination for US attorney general? yes. It’s never easy to criticize the president or the standard-bearer of your party. There’s always that political honeymoon period when you’re first elected. But there are already signs of people being willing to push back, criticize, and say no when they feel they have to say no. And that should give Americans a huge sigh of relief that it is not the evil dictatorship that the liberal media has been telling us about.
President Trump has a limited term. So the question arises: what will happen in 2028? Do you think Vice President-elect and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance is guaranteed the nomination in 2028, or do you think there will be a real contested primary?
There will no doubt be a real contentious primary election. By the way, I think JD is great. He has shown that he has overcome much of the early criticism. [faced]. he is capable He’s incredibly smart on his feet. He knows the problem. He is a very kind-hearted person. He gets along well with the other side — that showed through the vice presidential debate, and I think that gave strength to the whole ticket. Therefore, there is no doubt that he is in a great position if he wants to run in 2028. But no one is going to give it to him. You have to lead him through his paces. If he wanted to be a front runner, I imagine he would. But no, there will be many people from all walks of life participating.
I’m going to ask if you’ve thought about it.
No, I’m not thinking about 28 years.
So, can we rule out the possibility of him running for president in 2028?
I’m not ruling anything out, but there’s no story there. In terms of thinking of something, there’s literally zero on my list. I can’t see myself running in 2028. That would really change the plan. I can’t see any path for that to actually happen. I’m looking forward to returning to the private sector.
So what are your plans? What’s next?
I’m going to go into the private sector and make money and do some business stuff, but I’m also going to be in the media a little bit. I have some ideas for keeping that political itch tickled through content creation around various media venues and smart political content.
You are promoting support for Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s “Ministry of Government Efficiency” plan. Please tell me how it works.
You can look at the states to get an idea. Mr. Musk has political capital, even as an outsider, so he can leverage it and simply do well in front of a Republican Congress that is usually insensitive to actually doing anything substantive. You need to make sure you’re not just submitting a list of ideas. . Congress, including Republicans, is powerless to do anything about overspending. He and Trump can therefore leverage their combined political capital to ensure that everything they do lasts. It will be a huge legacy initiative for them. We really have to push Congress to dig into some kind of balanced budget. Eventually, they’ll have to start talking about entitlement reform and Social Security reform as the deadline for legislation approaches.
President Trump wants to abolish daylight saving time. You said you support that in a recent op-ed. However, the current push in Congress is to make daylight saving time permanent. What do you think about that?
I don’t care if it’s made permanent or abolished, but let’s stop changing the clock, okay? That’s what I mean. I don’t care. Please select a time. Whether I make it permanent or delete it, I get exactly the same result [it]. The important thing is to stop changing your clock.
