Republican 'baffled' by Trump playbook as he picks path of most destruction

With the 2026 midterms roughly one and a half months away, Democratic strategists are doing everything they can to make the elections a referendum on President Donald Trump — who continues to suffer from low approval ratings in poll after poll. And according to CNN's Stephen Collinson, Trump is doing everything he can to make the midterms worse for GOP candidates who are facing tough races.

"Trump's midterm playbook has baffled many Republicans," Collinson explains in a CNN article. "But fans might argue he's a conviction politician — a welcome change in an era dominated by focus groups. He's acting on what he believes is a mandate to impose tariffs to rescue U.S. industry; to ramp up immigration enforcement even if it alienates more moderate voters; and to impose dominance on the world. Ever since Trump returned to for a second term, his White House has given the impression that it will use every moment to change America and the world. And it's also true that unless Trump loyalists show up to back GOP nominees, the party has little chance in the midterms in any case."

Collinson adds, "Still, he could make life easier for his fellow Republicans. When he's hit the road to promote economic wins — including higher-than-expected tax refunds, cuts to some prescription drug costs and a stock market bull run — he mocks his aides for bothering to write the script he ignores. But there's one gift from Trump that may placate GOP candidates: cash."

Collinson notes, however, that Trump is doing a lot of things to make life harder for GOP candidates.

"Perhaps an unpopular president could, for once, exit the spotlight to allow them to focus disqualifying attention on their local Democratic foes," Collinson argues. "And Donald Trump might also show a smidgen of empathy to voters alarmed by high grocery prices and apocalyptic warnings about AI. Here's what GOP nominees have to deal with instead: Gasoline prices averaging $4.31 a gallon … Trump can't put a date on when his deeply unpopular war with Iran will stop."

Collinson continues, "And voters who question his judgment over the Middle East quagmire may be equally spooked by his assurance that their AI fears are a 'Hoax' and that all will be fine because the U.S. has a 'STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT' … If Trump were deliberately picking the path most likely to damage his own party, it couldn't look much different."

If the 2026 midterms go well for Democrats, it wouldn't be the first time the party controlling the White House lost a lot of seats in Congress. President George W. Bush famously described the 2006 midterms as a "thumping" for Republicans; former President Barack Obama called 2010 a "shellacking" for Democrats. But according to Collinson, a blue wave in 2026 could, for Trump, have implications that go way beyond 2026.

"His intensely personal approach to the 2026 elections means an overall GOP loss would go beyond the bloody political nose all presidents expect from midterms," Collinson writes. "It would be an indictment of his character, conduct and political movement."