U.S. President Donald Trump in Suffern, New York, U.S., May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
A little over five months from now, U.S. voters will decide control of Congress. President Donald Trump isn't literally on the ballot, yet a wide range of 2026 midterms elections — from the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to governor's offices to state legislatures — will become referendums on Trump's presidency. And according to the GOP insiders interviewed by the New York Times, Trump is doing a lot of things to make it harder for them to maintain control of Congress.
Times journalist Shane Goldmacher and Patricia Mazzei, in a report published on Memorial Day, explain, "Republicans know that their party's fate rests with the president, according to interviews with numerous officials in recent weeks. Yet they also know there is not much any of them can do to make him help them. "
Goldmacher and Mazzei cite Trump's endorsement of far-right State Attorney General Ken Paxton in Texas' U.S. Senate race and his $1.7 billion "anti-weaponization fund" as two examples of things that could make it harder for Republicans to hold Congress in November. Many Republican insiders believe that incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) would perform better than Cornyn against Democratic nominee James Talarico.
GOP pollster Whit Ayres described the fund as "a whole new level of brazenness," while outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) called it "stupid on stilts."
Ayers told the Times, "The president was elected to juice the economy, to bring down inflation, to stop illegal immigration and to get away from woke culture. If his highest goal were to maintain control of Congress, he would not be doing what he is doing."
On X, Tillis posted, "We need Republicans to do well in November, but the stupid stuff is killing our chances!
Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) is expressing his frustration with Trump as well, attacking the fund as a "slush fund to pay people who assault cops."
Goldmacher and Mazzei note, however, that Trump "certainly brings some advantages, including a super PAC with a $350 million war chest that allies are anxious for him to start spending."
"He has also shown an ability to get out the vote unlike anyone else, though the party has suffered in the last decade when he has not been on the ballot," the Times journalists explain. "But even some of Mr. Trump's Republican allies are growing frustrated by what they see as his Trump First agenda, though most are skittish of openly crossing a president with thin skin and a long memory, according to interviews with multiple Republican officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid the president's ire."
