Shortly after polls closed last Tuesday, with the scale of the Republican trouncing in the midterms still becoming apparent, Donald Trump briefly adopted an oddly conciliatory tone. He declared that he was “absolutely” willing to accept the results, would look forward to working with Democrats and that deportation policies might have been “too tough”.
It was never going to last. He soon cast doubt on the elections’ legitimacy. On Friday, he replaced his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, with her deputy, Stephen Miller – a white nationalist, or “stone-cold racist”, in the words of Hakeem Jeffries, likely to be the next House speaker. Ms Wiles executed the president’s decisions faithfully, but was seen as a somewhat calming if not restraining influence, which may help explain her departure.
Every high-profile woman in the administration has now quit or been ousted, and its machismo has increased. Mr Miller is an ideological extremist and attack dog who has spearheaded the expansion of executive power as well as the draconian immigration excesses that alienated many (particularly Latino) voters. He reportedly wants to wind down the war on Iran, but played a leading role in strikes against alleged drugs boats in the Caribbean – extrajudicial killings.
Happily for Mr Trump, the reshuffle has turned discussion away from lame ducks and the Republican succession. He does not need the mixed martial arts supremo Dana White as his press secretary; he has enough brawlers. On Tuesday, House Republicans picked another aggressive hardliner, Jim Jordan, as minority leader. He has pledged to fight investigations by the new Democratic majority. On the same day, they blocked the attempted impeachment of Pete Hegseth, the self-styled “secretary of war” (with some Democrats also missing the vote). The outgoing Republican congressman Thomas Massie was pressing the case against him over the Iran war and attacks on drugs boats. Mr Hegseth is manifestly unfit for office. He has shared highly sensitive information on a messaging app and wanted to live stream a military execution. But a case against him might embarrass Mr Trump.
Some still hope that Republicans will have little choice but to hold Mr Trump accountable for last week’s defeat. JD Vance sought to distance himself by criticising the Iran war, and Ron DeSantis declared that there was “no question” that the results were a rebuke of Mr Trump. But GOP politicians either want more Trumpism, or are extremely wary of taking him on, after he torched previous critics. Trump voters are split between the Maga base, which wants to double down (and who turned out last Tuesday) and the rest who want to moderate (and stayed home) – with divisions on everything from datacentres to deportations. The Republicans can’t win in 2028 with Maga votes alone. Yet the GOP regained power in 2016 by becoming more extreme.
The Democrats now have their own challenge. They must use their new congressional power to ensure accountability – including pinning corruption in Mr Trump’s circle to the cost of living crisis – while also trying to deliver for voters who need real improvements in their lives. Republicans will seek to tie them up in fruitless congressional battles.
The Trumpist message is so clear that the outgoing speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, even said it out loud: “The voters made the wrong choice.” The Republicans are promising the electorate more of what they didn’t want. The people have spoken, but the president – and his party – won’t listen.
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