‘Don’t Cause Choppy Waters!’ GOP Strategist Cautions Trump About Inciting Chaos Ahead of Inauguration Day

As the federal government teetered on the brink of a pre-holiday shutdown, Republican strategist Doug Heye urged President-elect Donald Trump to stop causing “choppy waters” that could follow him into the White House on inauguration day.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was left scrambling Friday after two spending bills failed to pass a Republican-led House that would have averted a shutdown.

Heye told CNN’s Jim Acosta, “If I were advising Donald Trump — and, full stop, I am not — I would tell him, what you want from election day to inauguration day is the calmest waters you can possibly have. Ring the bell at the stock market, do things like that, but don’t cause choppy waters because you don’t need it. So, if Mike Johnson is threatened, that’s bad news for Donald Trump, because it makes this water so choppy as he comes in to the White House.”

Thursday night, representatives on both sides of the aisle rejected a Trump-backed spending bill that differed from Johnson’s original bipartisan compromise.

Further stirring the pot was Elon Musk who posted to X, formerly Twitter, “A super fair & simple bill was put to a vote and only 2 Democrats in Congress were in favor,” Musk wrote, arguing that “responsibility for the shutdown rests squarely on the shoulders” of House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).

Heye continued, “What we also saw last night in that vote that failed is, 38 Republicans vote against Musk, vote against Donald Trump. And, you know, we talk about MAGA and House Freedom Caucus. These are OG Tea Partiers. And what they’re saying is, we’re not going to pass a debt ceiling. That makes the next two years extremely interesting.”

Speaker Johnson told reporters Friday, to “stay tuned — we’ve got a plan.”

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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