Trump is 'in decline' and out of time as Republicans crash: GOP strategist

U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement regarding his administration's policies against cartels and human trafficking, from the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 23, 2025.

Republican strategist and Bluestack Strategies founder Maura Gillespie warns Republicans are wringing their hands over the spectacle of President Donald Trump fighting old age while the party staggers into the mid-terms.

“It will be hard for them to defend that aspect of it,” Gillespie told a CNN Friday panel, speaking of Trump nailing his name on everything in D.C. and broadcasting his face on news. “But I think for the president, who you know, he has long talked about his admiration for leaders who have full control over their country. I think he looks at his approval ratings, which are record lows, and that for someone who, like Trump, loves having power, loves appearing strong and powerful — he’s 80 years old. His decline is starting to really show physically, also cognitively … [with] some of his slurred speeches and things of that nature. And so, he's starting to realize the best way for him to make a legacy is to put his name on everything.”

Plastering your image on public spaces and making billions while being president is not a good look for the party, but Gillespie said Trump knows no other mode in his second term.

“It's what he knows how to do. As somebody who is in real estate and who does business and puts his name and branding on everything, this is his way to make a legacy impact because he doesn't have all the time that many presidents do post-presidency for legacy at the age of 80. And so it creates a challenge for him,” said Gillespie, who worked for the Republican campaigns of former Rep. Adam Kinzinger and former House Speaker John Boehner. “But I don't think Republicans are going to be able to explain to their constituents about spending constituent money on things like that when grocery costs are high and gas is high.

Former U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman advised Trump to make his legacy more about strengthening the economy stronger and lifting working-class Americans out of poverty because a president is too easily remembered for his mistakes whether it’s a $1 billion-a-day on a war on Iran, high gas prices or an insurrection.

But Gillespie dismissed that possibility outright, saying Trump isn’t interested in that.

“I think he's not interested in that. Sorry. I just think he's not interested. I think he really is interested about what everything means to him,” said Gillespie. “He's not a Republican or a Democrat. Donald Trump is someone who is egocentrically focused, and so it really just matters how it looks to him, not to anybody else.”

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