https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-puts-the-senate-in-play-in-2026-83b84ecd?mod=hp_opin_pos_1
A common feature of Donald Trump’s two terms as President is that he can’t stand political prosperity. When events are going in his direction, he has an uncanny habit of handing his opponents a sword.
The latest example came Sunday after GOP leaders dragged several holdouts across the line to vote aye and start debate over the Senate version of the budget reconciliation bill. The vote was 51-49, but Mr. Trump couldn’t leave victory alone.
Instead he unloaded on the two GOP dissenters, Rand Paul of Kentucky and especially Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Mr. Trump dumped three different Truth Social posts on Mr. Tillis, calling him a sellout, a “talker and complainer” and various other insults.
He also all but promised to support a Republican opponent in the GOP primary for Senate in 2026, when Mr. Tillis’s term ends. “Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social. “I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina.”
People forget two things
ReplyDelete1) Trump is not a Republican. He was a lifelong Democrat and quite the celebrity in the party until he decided that he wanted to run for president and understood that the Republicans would be easier to hijack. All the people screaming about how terrible he is? He grew up in their party and they loved him until he jumped to the GOP.
2) Trump does not have to worry about re-election. He knows that in 2028 he's done and can retired as the greatest, most-impressive, most-accomplished president ever in the history of this world and any others that might be out there. He does not seek to leave a legacy. MAGA will be inherited by Vance and his other cronies and he might still play a godfather-like role in the background but it really doesn't matter to him if the Republicans implode and collapse. He won't take hte blame, that's for sure.
So why wouldn't he act as a chaos agent within the party and sabotage himself? His agenda is to set himself off for big paydays after he leaves office. This doesn't change that at all.