Trump biographer says he is out of time to escape ruin from his big weakness

President Donald Trump is staring down a defining political weakness that "cuts across" political divides, according to his one-time biographer, and he has run out of time before the midterms to meaningfully turn things around.

Michael Wolff is a longtime reporter and author, best known for his extensive coverage of Trump's political career, including several books about his chaotic first term. In a recent episode of his Daily Beast podcast, "Inside Trump's Head," Wolff broke down why Trump has created his own political problems as the midterms loom ever closer.

"Donald Trump... has screwed himself, which he does over and over and over again," the author told co-host Joanna Coles.

"I know people talk about his comeback and his winning the second administration, as if this was the biggest political comeback, which certainly was a big comeback, and unexpected in some quarters," Coles responded. "Trump is self-destructing with his own policies."

"He came into office with this... whole first year of catching everyone off guard because of him charging ahead, and [saying] 'I can do what I want because I am the president,'" Wolff continued. "'I will do what I want, no one will stop me, and I'm going to do it as fast as I possibly can.' Which he did. But the problem with all that is that that means nothing is particularly thought out. Do this, do this, do this. And [that] means that a year and a half later, you're reaping the benefit, or reaping the opposite of the benefit, of not having thought out the cause and effect here. You do this, it's going to have that effect. And that is all now biting him in the a—— as we approach the midterms in seven weeks."

With fewer than seven weeks left until the midterms, Wolff argued that the economic conditions battering most Americans continue to be the biggest issues Trump and the GOP are facing, especially since voters trusted his 2024 promise to "end" these issues swiftly. This could be especially damaging, he added, because high prices are an issue that every voter, no matter their political persuasion, is going to feel stung by.

“There’s no ideology attached to that, no partisanship,” Wolff said. “It’s just things are... way more expensive than people believe they ought to be... and when that happens you look for someone to blame; there’s one logical person to blame... and that’s the president of the United States... It is not just Donald Trump [taking the blame], but... the buck stops here because he is the president.”

He added later: “This is of his own making. The war is of his own making; tariffs are of his own making. They are the kinds of things that contribute to raising prices,” Wolff said.