Trump’s latest loyalty test is a 'risky' strategy': political scientists

U.S. President Donald Trump isn't backing down for his push for a White House ballroom, insisting that it is a matter of national security. And he is turning it into yet another loyalty test or purity test for GOP lawmakers. But according to political scientists interviewed by the UK-based i Paper, this strategy poses significant political risks for Trump.

The i Paper's Jonathan Singh stresses that Trump's push for the ballroom is about much more than the ballroom itself — it exemplifies his "demand for loyalty and is a way for the U.S. president to test who is with him and against him." Singh, however, describes this a "risky approach" for the United States' 2026 midterms.

"Favoring unwavering loyalty over electoral success, this week, Trump helped to end the midterm election hopes of three sitting Republicans: Kentucky's Thomas Massie, a critic of the government's handling of the (Jeffrey) Epstein scandal; Georgia's Brad Raffensperger, who defied Trump's call to 'find' votes to overturn the 2020 election; and Louisiana's Bill Cassidy, a supporter of Trump's 2021 impeachment," Singh explains. "The president also demanded the firing of a non-partisan Senate official who rejected his attempt to include $1bn (£740m) for his vast White House ballroom in an immigration bill, a vote on which was then abandoned by Senate Republicans on Thursday."

Singh continues, "The president's strategy appears to center on building a movement of frightened loyalists who will back even his most narcissistic ambitions — a growing concern for Republican lawmakers who might dare to challenge him. But for a president facing tanking poll numbers and crises at home and abroad, taking down those who oppose him is a way of establishing control over a fracturing party and is part of a wider strategy to secure ultra-loyalty to the Trump political brand, according to experts."

One of the political experts interviewed by the i Paper is Elisa Wirsching, a professor of government for the London School of Economics.

Wirsching told the i Paper, "This is more strategic than personal, even though his rhetoric is very Trump-like and impulsive. The pattern aligns with Trump's more general approach, namely loyalty above policy or even ideology — and loyalty above electability…. What (Cassidy and Massie) had in common was specific acts of defiance against Trump personally."

Wirsching noted that "few Republicans" will "push back, even where they privately disagree, because individual defection is punishable and collective resistance has never been organized" against Trump — adding, "Each Republican member's strategy is to keep their head down and hope they are not next."

Peter Finn, who teaches international relations at the University of Greenwich, believes that Trump's push for loyalty within the GOP is being encouraged by the political turbulence of 2026.

Finn told the i Paper, "Trump has the ability to shape events in the short term. But societies are complicated, and events are hard to predict and control. So this is one area where Trump can still directly impact events and maybe he’s finding some sort of solace in that."