Republican 'panic' as senator corners Trump over relentless GOP targeting

U.S. President Donald Trump checks his hair before sitting down for a podcast interview at the Varsity restaurant, in Rome, Georgia, U.S., February 19, 2026. REUTERS Kevin Lamarque

A meeting between President Donald Trump, Republican senators and a cabal of GOP operatives lapsed into “uncomfortable territory” when conservative lawmakers revealed the question that was really on their minds: when would Trump stop attacking his own party and start taking the midterms seriously?

According to new reporting from Politico, the showdown happened during a closed-door meeting on midterms messaging that was held by GOP political operatives James Blair, Alex Latcham, and pollster Tony Fabrizio. As the Daily Beast explains, Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) “cornered Trump’s team, demanding to know when the president would finally pivot from bashing fellow Republicans to targeting political opponents. The Montana lawmaker’s question captured a growing panic inside the GOP, where lawmakers are privately exasperated by Trump’s relentless feuds with other members of his party, even as vulnerable Democrats escape his wrath.”

This prompted more senators to take up the issue. Senate Majority Leader John Thune raised the urgent need to secure swing voters in Maine, Michigan and North Carolina, while Latcham tried to reassure all present that the White House, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and MAGA Inc. are all tightly coordinated.

According to the Daily Beast, “Trump’s foreign policy obsessions have also hijacked his party’s political agenda. Back in January, his intense fixation on the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro triggered widespread frustration among aides and lawmakers who wanted him focused on inflation and healthcare … White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, her then deputy James Blair — who took a leave of absence in April to run Trump’s outside political and midterm operations — and Vice President JD Vance repeatedly had to steer internal meetings back to domestic concerns.”

“Months later,” the Beast continues, “Trump has swapped Venezuela for an ongoing war in Iran — and voters are punishing Republicans for the fallout. A fresh Reuters/Ipsos poll shows 37 percent of registered voters now trust Democrats to handle the economy compared to 36 percent for Republicans, marking the first time Democrats have led on economic stewardship since May 2017. The economic drag is hitting Americans directly at the pump, with national gas prices jumping to around $4.06 per gallon — nearly 40 percent higher than the $2.98 drivers paid on Feb. 27, right before Trump launched his war on Iran.”

For these and other reasons, Trump has seen an exodus of support not only among independent voters, but also among his most vital voting blocs like white people and the working class. As a result, a growing number of Republicans are expressing open concern about their midterm chances as analysts warn of an approaching “doomsday scenario.”

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