'Risky bet': Trump tries to prove he 'can still bend GOP politicians to his will'
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As some Republicans start to push back against President Donald Trump and his unpopular policies, his allies have chosen a "risky bet" and a "symbolic clash" in doubling down on redistricting in Indiana, reports CNN.
"They’ve picked a fight over redistricting in the Hoosier State as the battleground to prove that Trump can still bend GOP politicians to his will. They want to force those lawmakers to pass a map that they’ve previously opposed that would give Republicans more winnable US House seats," they explain.
This risky bet, they note, is "a thoroughly dangerous situation – both literally and for our democracy."
Although some states have resisted Trump's push for redrawing congressional maps to include more GOP-leaning districts, nowhere has this resistance been more striking, they write, than in Indiana.
"Despite Republicans having a 40-10 supermajority in the chamber, it has repeatedly rejected Trump’s calls – including by voting to adjourn two weeks ago. Around the same time that was happening in mid-November, Trump world began upping the pressure," they report.
"And there has now been an apparent deluge of threats against GOP state senators who have declined to sign onto the effort," they add.
According to CNN, at least eight GOP state senators and Republican Gov. Mike Braun had all faced threats.
"In recent days, GOP state Sens. Jean Leising and Mike Bohacek cited bomb threats. That means roughly 1 in 4 Indiana GOP state senators has now faced such a threat," they write.
Despite these threats, CNN says the "Trump administration hasn’t done much of anything to tamp them down."
Instead, Trump keeps lashing out, they report, and "the pressure campaign appears to have had at least something of an impact. Despite having voted to adjourn until January, Bray last week reversed course and agreed to hold a vote next week."
While some opponents of the redistricting remain defiant, "it seems at least possible that Trump’s pressure campaign — as well as the threats from others — could ultimately sway lawmakers to do something they clearly didn’t want to do," CNN notes.
"And that would be a remarkable moment in our democracy," they add, saying, "there has long been evidence that threats of physical violence can play a significant role in Trump’s domination of the party."
Because Republicans have such a large majority in Indiana, CNN explains, about 16 of them would need to vote with Democrats against the map.
"As of Monday, the Indianapolis Star counted 10 who were openly against the map and 14 who had said they were for it. That left 26 Republicans who were seemingly free agents, and Trump needs to win over the vast majority of them," they explain.
If the opponents to the map are successful in blocking it, the result will like hit hard in the White House.
"Imagine a situation in which the state Senate ultimately rejects what Trump wants – despite all the Truth Social posts, the repeated interventions from Vice President JD Vance and the recent efforts of House Speaker Mike Johnson," CNN muses.
If Republicans can't push this through, "it will be a stunning rebuke" at "one of the worst possible times for Trump," they note.
"And it will have been all for a potential two-seat gain that might not even determine who controls the US House after the 2026 election. But this is the battle Trump has chosen. Now he – and the country – will deal with the fallout," they conclude.