It’s questionable if Trump ever had a “political problem”. There are no elections of consequence this year. Had he waited until next year to do this with the midterms looming there might have been one but after 1 month of tariffs…there’s not much there.

His polling numbers took an almost immediate hit - at a time when he needs to be twisting arms to get his BBB through Congress despite serious disagreements between the moderate and conservative caucuses in the House, and between the House and the Senate. Those folks don't start worrying about the midterms in 2026 - they're worrying about the midterms now. Many of them know they're going to be asked to take a painful vote that will impact their midterm prospects, perhaps the most consequential vote of this Congress, sometime in the next two months. They want to know that Trump has a plan to get the "transition" pain wrapped up before voters start forming their opinions next year, because that affects their decisions on whether they can go on a limb with this vote. They want to know that this is going to get resolved before it affects Christmas.