The White House had declared this week as "infrastructure week," but President Donald Trump's tweets on other topics and the attention placed on the testimony of fired FBI Director James Comey appeared to divert focus from the initiative, according to The Hill.
The initiative was planned to promote President Trump's $1 trillion infrastructure rebuilding proposal, which has not yet been fully released. However, the president appeared to veer off message, The Hill reports.
"They tried really hard, and certainly several people inside care deeply about this. But inside the White House, you have to have incredible discipline to stay on message, regardless of what else happens," said Marcia Hale, president of Building America's Future, The Hill reports.
"Everyone inside has to be on the same page, and that just didn't happen," Hale added.
White House officials appeared optimistic that the focus on infrastructure could help move the proposal further along in Congress.
"We absolutely do feel that the infrastructure package can be accomplished this year. We are working every day to that end," an official said in a press call last Friday, according to The Hill.
Before the infrastructure event got a White House kickoff on Monday, the president tweeted about his travel ban proposal and about the London mayor's response to a terror attack.
According to CNN, Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., a water infrastructure advocate, slammed Trump on Monday, saying, "He's the president of the United States… He's not some guy with a blog. He's the president. What he says actually matters."
On Wednesday, a press release revealed few details on spending regarding Trump's infrastructure plan. "Rural America will receive grants to rebuild crippled bridges, roads, and waterways," the press release said.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., slammed "infrastructure week" in a Tuesday statement, calling it a "Trojan horse for undermining workers' wages and handing massive tax breaks to billionaires and corporations."
Infrastructure advocates are looking to a Friday speech by Trump at the Department of Transportation that is set to discuss roads and rails.
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