President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill, the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., June 24, 2026. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon
President Donald Trump ability to spin chaos to his advantage is now coming back to haunt him as Republicans who were once safe in red districts are pouring money into surviving a potential blue wave at their doorstep.
In a Wednesday opinion column for The Washington Post, Kate Andrews said the president is losing control of his chaotic brand of politics as angry voters, fed up with high prices brought on by his tariffs and the drawn-out war in Iran, head to the polls.
As the column points out, Trump is struggling to accept the increasingly likely blue wave coming in November.
“I don’t understand it, nobody does, nobody’s been able to explain it,” the president told reporters last month, adding: “Whoever wins the presidency, Republican or Democrat, automatically does poorly in the midterms. I don’t know why ... but we shouldn’t.”
Andrews pointed out that the answer is right in front of him as voters are forced to live with the consequences of his White House policies, and he simply cannot spin enough chaos to distract them from the prices they pay on a daily basis.
“The disorder the president thought he owned has spun out of his control,” she wrote.
The column cites research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which shows that Trump's tariffs added 2.9 percentage points to the price of goods by February. The study found that his tariffs are directly the cause of the inflated prices, and they would have fallen if not for his economic policy.
While Trump repeatedly claims that foreign nations will pay the prices of tariffs and billions of dollars are pouring in, the reality is that American businesses are taking the hit and are forced to pass on the cost to everyday shoppers.
Andrews also points to his war with Iran, which Trump boldly claimed would be over quickly when it began, estimating up to six weeks. But eight months later, the conflict has led to diesel and gasoline prices shooting up due to Iran’s war of attrition tactics of holding up the Strait of Hormuz.
For Republican candidates, Trump has given them little to defend, and more than a few have distanced themselves from him.
Andrews referred to polling which indicated that the Democrats were competitive in the Senate races in Kansas and Texas, states that Trump had won by large margins. She said that this change is causing even areas that have always been Republican to appear politically uncertain. In some of the close contests, Republicans are now running advertisements attacking tariffs, while in others they are unwilling to join the president on the campaign trail.
That is an awkward development for Trump since earlier on he had prospered by keeping the political discussion progressing so rapidly that his opponents found it hard to keep up. However, voters who are concerned about the cost of their groceries and gas don't need to be diverted by yet another White House show.
Andrews claimed that Trump had promised cheaper living costs and a termination of prolonged foreign conflicts but has in fact delivered the opposite.
Her conclusion summed up how Republican candidates are dealing with Trump’s economic policies and brand of politics.
“They can’t risk any more chaos,” she concluded.
