President Donald Trump in Dearborn, Michigan, January 13, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
President Donald Trump might have effectively "limitless money" to work with, but according to his one-time biographer, it will not be enough to stop the wipeout coming for him next week.
Michael Wolff is a longtime author and reporter best known for his extensive coverage of Trump's political career, including several books about his messy first term in office. In the latest episode of his Daily Beast podcast, "Inside Trump's Head," he told co-host Joanna Coles that he expected a solid sweep of Democratic victories in the midterm elections next week, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars that ultrawealthy donors have flooded into Trump and the GOP. This, he argued, would also send a major message about money in politics.
“The Republicans have limitless money,” Wolff said. “So if the Democrats win, that’s a marker. It doesn’t matter how much money you have. The contempt for Donald Trump overwhelms that.”
Digging in further, Wolff made even more optimistic predictions for the Democratic opposition than Coles was willing to make, particularly about the hotly contested Senate race in Texas. Once the dust settled, he added, Trump will be facing a Congress unlike anything he has dealt with before.
“I think [James] Talarico is going to win,” Wolff predicted. “I think the Democrats are going to win the Senate. Trump is going to lose the United States Congress.”
He added, interrogating his co-host: "I just want a record here — you don’t think the Democrats are going to win the Senate?”
“I actually don’t think the Democrats are going to win the Senate,” Coles responded. “I do think they’ll win the House by a serious majority. But I do not think they are going to win the Senate. I think the Senate hangs in the balance ... I think Elon Musk has put an enormous amount of money into people getting out the vote. The operations on the ground for the Republican Party are really extensive.”
Wolff, for his part, argued against Coles's view, predicting that the intensity of voters' hatred towards Trump was simply too much for the Republicans to fundraise their way through.
“That’s the velocity of the contempt for Donald Trump,” he added. “There really is a chance that it will overcome all of that.”
He also noted: "And I think that James Talarico has done a very smart thing to pivot to say he's running against Musk, that Musk has poured over 250 million [dollars] into Texas alone and is now like, you know, Musk is trying to buy this election. I think that's all very effective messaging."
