Last week was the best one President Donald Trump has had in months. Trump reminded Republicans who’s boss by ousting Indiana lawmakers who defied his redistricting demands, saw Democrats’ attempt to gerrymander Virginia blocked by the state Supreme Court and received a far-better-than-expected April jobs report. Perhaps best of all for the pre-adolescent-in-chief, he breezily rode his motorcade atop the covered reflecting pool on the National Mall. It was enough to make his party forget what’s coming in November — and how little he cares about their long-term prospects. However, those twin realities are why Republicans should start looking out for themselves and not let Trump further exacerbate the damage he’s done to their brand since returning to office. The convergence of his successful intimidation campaign in Indiana and the Supreme Court’s termination of majority-minority districts will tempt the GOP to lunge for more seats. But they do so at their own risk. Not only may Republicans unwittingly create more competitive races for their own members, they will energize Democrats and set back their party in ways that will linger beyond this president. To you Republicans coveting new seats and considering whether to move forward: caveat emptor. Let’s give Trump his due, though: Thanks to his singular style and the failures of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the president forged a 2024 coalition that breathed new life into the GOP. He made inroads with younger voters and expanded his base of working-class whites to include more racial minorities of modest means. Had Trump installed a cabinet and pursued an agenda to retain these voters, he would’ve remade the Republican Party and shattered the Democratic Party. Of course, that’s not what happened and was never going to happen given who he is. Trump spent much of 2025 letting Elon Musk upend the federal government, and the president’s only major legislative initiative in the first year, the crucial period for any new president, was a bill anchored around extending the high-end tax cuts passed eight years earlier. Then in the first months of this year, Trump frittered away the critical advantage he had on perhaps the two biggest issues of 2024 — immigration and inflation. His success securing the border was engulfed by images of Stephen Miller’s deportation policy and Trump’s unbending fixation on tariffs and a legacy-seeking war in Iran have sent prices soaring. Meanwhile, nobody around the president dares tell… [TheTopNews] Read More.
3 weeks ago
