WASHINGTON — Top Republicans suggested on Sunday that Donald Trump needs more public policy schooling, particularly on foreign affairs, to earn the confidence of a fractured party and show he’s ready to take on likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
“I think he’s going to need to learn. He’s going to need to understand really completely … how complex this world is,” said Trump’s top Senate ally and top foreign policy adviser, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
To Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., Trump “is a work in progress,” more so than most candidates. “Usually, you know a lot more about a candidate because they’ve run for other things. They’ve cast votes. They’ve done things. And he does have a shoot-from-the-hip style.”
What concerns many Republicans is the prospect of their backing Trump and then having him stumble over the party’s core policy issues. For example, he once suggested in an MSNBC interview that there should be “some form of punishment” for women who have had abortions. Ultimately, Trump said abortion providers, not women, were the ones who should be punished if abortions were outlawed.
The policy education for Trump and his team appears to be underway.
A few weeks ago, top aide Paul Manafort spent about an hour at the conservative Heritage Foundation Washington as part of what the think tank described as part of an ongoing series of policy briefings for candidates and their advisers.
Other Trump officials have been meeting with individual members of the House.
Trump himself met with senators on the same day he met with Ryan, and many emerged describing an open-minded, even earnest candidate.
And lately, Trump has taken to describing his policy proposals as merely “suggestions.”
But Trump also has said he’s his own best foreign policy adviser.
By Sunday, GOP figures were widely acknowledging Trump’s learning curve and urging patience.
