This is the DNC’s Battleground Brief — a weekly wrap-up of Trump’s broken promises and everything you need to know across the path to 270. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR! THERE ARE JUST 290 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY.

DNC’S BATTLEGROUND HEALTH CARE TOUR CONTINUES IN WISCONSIN — CHAIR PEREZ SAYS “WINNING THIS STATE, FOR ME, IS PERSONAL.” This week, DNC Chair Tom Perez continued his battleground tour with a road trip from Madison to Milwaukee to discuss Trump’s record of spiking health care costs, jeopardizing coverage protections for people with pre-existing conditions and breaking his promises. 

While in Wisconsin, Perez also kicked off our second wave of Organizing Corps 2020 trainings in Madison — the program will help ensure our eventual nominee has a pool of trained and ready-to-hire organizers across the battlegrounds. 

Some highlights from the Badger State: 

• Fox6: “Democratic leaders in Milwaukee held a news conference on Tuesday morning, Jan. 14 to [talk] about what they called President Donald Trump’s ‘broken promises on health care.’ This, ahead of President Trump’s campaign rally Tuesday evening in Milwaukee. Instead of hosting a rally at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panther Arena Tuesday night, Democrats and protesters said he should be talking one-on-one with people about their struggles to access and afford quality health insurance.”
• WISN12: “Tom Perez calls Wisconsin ‘the tipping point state’ in 2020. He is on a double mission in Wisconsin: organizing a Democratic National Convention and helping a Democrat win the key battleground state.”
• WPR: “During a visit to Milwaukee Thursday, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez called out President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans for breaking their promise to offer people better, more affordable health care coverage. “ 
• Associated Press: “Democrats swept every statewide office in Wisconsin in 2018, victories that Perez pointed to as a blueprint for defeating Trump. Democrats must engage with voters across the state, not just in the liberal urban areas of Milwaukee and Madison, he said. ‘Winning this state, for me, is personal,’ Perez told students.”

DONALD TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES ARE NOT WELCOME IN FLORIDA. When he showed up in Florida this week, Mike Pence was greeted by a week of backlash from local leaders and voters from Tampa to Kissimmee. At events across the state, they spoke about how the Trump administration is  gutting health care, failing to provide proper funding for Puerto Rico’s recovery, and supporting near-shore drilling. These clips say it all:

• Orlando Sentinel: “Vice President Mike Pence will be greeted in Kissimmee by a billboard slamming President Donald Trump over his response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. The Florida Democratic Party unveiled the billboard Monday along Florida’s Turnpike in advance of Pence’s Thursday visit as part of a ‘Latinos for Trump’ event at the Nación de Fe church. It will stay up until the end of the week.”
• NewsWeek: “Democrats in Florida have unveiled a billboard reminding the local Hispanic and Latino community of the moment President Donald Trump threw paper towels into a crowd of Puerto Ricans awaiting aid in the wake of Hurricane Maria. ‘When the Americans in Puerto Rico needed President Trump the most, he threw paper towels at them instead of releasing federal emergency funds,’ said FDP Executive Director Juan Peñalosa.”
• Associated Press: “On Wednesday, local Democrats criticized the GOP’s record with Hispanics. The mayor of Kissimmee spoke at a news conference held by the Florida Democratic Party at a podium in front of signs that read ‘Incompetent President’ in Spanish. ‘We know why the vice president is here in Kissimmee,’ said Mayor Jose Alvarez. ‘He is here to confuse us, to try to take our vote, because they need it. And we need to stand up, and we need to teach them a lesson that they are not going to take our vote.’”

LOTS more coverage HERE.

**BREAKING**: NEW WASHINGTON POST FACT CHECK FINDS “TRUMP HAS BROKEN MORE PROMISES THAN HE’S KEPT,”  A new Washington Post fact check confirms what we already know: Trump broke his promises to the American people, Key points from the article: 

“With Trump nearing the end of his third year as president, it’s time for an update — and a reality check. Contrary to what he tells his fans, Trump has broken more key promises than he has kept. With our latest update, Trump has broken about 43 percent of 60 key promises — and kept about 35 percent. He settled for a compromise on 12 percent.”

“Fully repeal and replace Obamacare. Trump’s promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act backfired spectacularly in his first year in office, and the backlash over repeal votes taken by Republicans helped Democrats retake control of the House in the midterm elections.”

“Reduce the number of tax brackets from seven to three and, likewise, greatly simplify tax forms. […] Trump regularly touts the tax-cut bill, but it also failed to meet several other specific pledges, such as insuring the largest tax reductions were for the middle class and allowing Americans to deduct child care and elder care from their taxes.”

SPEAKING OF FACT CHECKS: AP: FACT CHECK: NO, TRUMP DIDN’T SAVE PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS. 

• “THE FACTS: People with preexisting medical problems have health insurance protections because of President Barack Obama’s health care law, which Trump is trying to dismantle. One of Trump’s major alternatives to Obama’s law – short-term health insurance, already in place – doesn’t have to cover preexisting conditions. 
• “Meanwhile, Trump’s administration has been pressing in court for full repeal of the Obama-era law, including provisions that protect people with preexisting conditions from health insurance discrimination.
• “THE FACTS: Trump and other Republicans say they’ll have a plan to preserve protections for people with preexisting conditions. The White House has provided no details.”

WHEREVER TRUMP AND HIS CRONIES GO, WE’LL BE THERE TO HOLD HIM ACCOUNTABLE

Nervous in New Hampshire:

• In response to the announcement that Trump will now host a rally on the eve of the New Hampshire primaries (a sure sign that he’s a bit nervous about his support in the state), the Democratic party released the following: “Donald Trump’s visit to New Hampshire on the eve of the primary is the best thing that could have happened to New Hampshire Democrats. With Trump reminding us of his broken promises to Granite Staters – from his refusal to lower prescription drug prices to his administration stacked with lobbyists to his efforts to end a woman’s right to choose – even more independent voters will be motivated to cast a vote in our primary and against Trump on February 11th.”

In Iowa:

• “In response to this week’s ‘Women for Trump’ bus tour, Iowa Democratic Party Women’s Caucus Chair Jean Hessburg released the following statement: ‘A bus ride can’t spin three years of broken promises to Iowa women. Donald Trump doesn’t just have contempt for women—he’s going after our paychecks, hiking our taxes, spiking our health care costs, and attacking protections for preexisting conditions.’”

In Georgia:

• “DNC Deputy Director of Battleground State Communications Maya Hixson issued the following statement in response to Ivanka Trump’s visit to Atlanta:  ‘Ivanka Trump can’t sugarcoat the Trump administration’s terrible track record of human rights violations and broken promises to women. From seperating children from their parents at the border, to revoking protections against sexual harassment in the workplace, to attacking a woman’s right to choose — Trump and his cronies keep trying to sell their baseless lies to Georgians. But Georgians have a long memory and they’re ready to vote Trump out of a job this November.’”

In Wisconsin: 

• “Democratic leaders in Milwaukee held a news conference on Tuesday morning, Jan. 14 to about what they called President Donald Trump’s ‘broken promises on health care.’ This, ahead of President Trump’s campaign rally Tuesday evening in Milwaukee.”

MUST READ BY REP. GWEN MOORE: DONALD TRUMP HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR IN MILWAUKEE. Trump faced a lot of backlash from Wisconsinites ahead of his rally this week, but none quite as scathing as Rep. Gwen Moore’s. Read all about it in the Madison State-Journal. Toplines:

• “Between breaking his promises to the American people to lower the cost of prescription drugs, passing a tax giveaway for the wealthiest, driving farmers to the brink, and declaring war via Twitter, he owes Wisconsinites answers”
• “Trump, who plans to hold a rally Tuesday night, brags that the economy is strong. But many hardworking Wisconsinites are just trying to get ahead and certainly don’t feel that way. Many Americans are working more than one job to stay afloat, and our middle class pays a higher tax rate than 400 of America’s richest families. Wage growth is stagnating while Americans’ pockets are getting stretched thinner as the cost of health care, housing and education skyrockets.”
• “His trade war has hit the pride and joy of Wisconsin hard: our dairy and the manufacturing industry. His reckless trade war forces families to make heartbreaking decisions about their family farms. In 2018 alone, an average of two Wisconsin dairy farms a day goes bankrupt.”

OLD MCDONALD….DIDN’T HAVE A FARM THANKS TO TRUMP’S TRADE POLICIES. Trump continues to try and gloss over the fact that his failed trade policies have brought nothing but harm to farmers in Wisconsin. Take a look:

The American Independent: Wisconsin dairy farmers suffer massive blow thanks to Trump’s trade war. “The state of Wisconsin, famous for its cheese, lost 10% of its dairy farms in 2019, Dairy Herd Management reported on Thursday. The loss of 818 dairies was the largest decline in Wisconsin history. Trouble for dairy farmers started in 2018, when Donald Trump engaged in a protracted trade war with China. In retaliation for increased tariffs from the United States, China placed tariffs on a number of U.S. agricultural exports. As a result, exports of U.S. dairy to China dropped by more than 50% in 2019, according to CNBC.”

Market’s Insider: Wisconsin lost 10% of its dairy farmers in 2019, marking its biggest decline ever as Trump’s trade wars raged. “Farmers have suffered significant business losses because of the trade war, resulting in a $28 billion bailout package that’s double the amount the government forked over to Detroit automakers at the height of the recession a decade ago. Americans have also borne the brunt of Trump’s tariffs. A paper released this week from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that consumers paid for “approximately 100 percent” of the tariffs in the form of increased prices.”

MICHIGAN FARMERS SPEAKING OUT AGAINST TRUMP TOO. The Michigan Democratic Party released a digital video highlighting how Donald Trump’s erratic trade policies have damaged Michigan farmers. The video portrays Michigan farmer Lynn Mason discussing how Trump’s broken promises have left farmers without the stability they need to build thriving businesses. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.

**MORE OF TRUMP’S TERRIBLE TRADE POLICIES HEADLINES**

Washington Post: Trade was supposed to be Trump’s signature issue. His efforts have fallen flat.

US News: Trump’s Sick and Wealthy Trade Deficit

NPR: Trump Signs ‘Phase 1’ China Trade Deal, But Most Tariffs Remain In Place

NYT: Trump Basks in Trade Victory With Corporate Friends

The New Yorker: The Uneasy Truce of Trump’s Trade Deal with China

Business Insider: Trump’s blundering attempts to strong arm Iran follow the same pattern as the China trade-war mess

MONEY TWEET:

Make sure to follow the DNC’s War Room (@DNCWarRoom) to get real-time updates on Trump’s abuses of power and broken promises.

Happy Friday! 

The DNC Comms Team