With the midterms just around the corner and President Donald Trump seemingly doing everything he can to hurt the GOP’s chances, a growing number of political commentators warn that his behavior may be “proof” that “he secretly wants Republicans to lose.” As the Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland writes, “Such is the US president’s narcissism that he would see a Democratic victory as proof that he’s indispensable – meanwhile, his every decision spells calamity for voters.”
The idea that Trump on some level wants to tank the GOP, writes Freedland, is “not as mad a theory as it sounds. Indeed, there are at least two reasons why Trump might either be unbothered by Republican defeat in November or even covertly desire it.” The president’s actions, argues Freedland, are “hard to explain as anything other than calculated self-sabotage.”
Trump’s “reckless, failed war of choice against Iran” has defined his second term. Despite his claims otherwise, fighting has continued to drag on as the consequences spin out with no end in sight. According to Freedland, “The impact on US voters is severe, felt most directly through rising petrol prices and grocery bills.” But he also notes that the skyrocketing cost of the national debt – which has climbed steadily since the day the war began and hit a new high this week – “translates into an expected jump in interest rates. It means that many of those casting ballots are likely to be doing so just as they start paying more on their credit card bills and mortgages. Given that Trump was elected in November 2024 on a promise to bring down inflation, it’s hard to think of a worse environment for a governing party about to face the voters’ verdict. And that’s before you consider the disenchantment of the MAGA faithful, who thought the whole point of Trump was an end to forever wars in the Middle East.”
Now he’s launched another trade war with Canada. Michigan, Ohio, Maine, Iowa, and Texas all happen to have key Senate races this year, and as Freedland notes, now “Republican candidates in those states now have to explain why a crucial and previously friendly export market – Canada takes nearly a third of Iowa’s exports, for example – has suddenly turned icy. What’s odd is that Trump’s trade wars are also wars of choice, and they are hurting especially badly what should be a reliable Republican constituency: farmers. Take Iowa: Democrats have not won a Senate seat in that farming state for nearly 20 years, yet now, thanks to Trump’s tariffs, they have a genuine shot.”
What’s more, Trump has now jumped on the data center bandwagon, which is wildly unpopular with voters across the political spectrum. But according to Trump, “The only reason that communities throughout the USA should not want data centres is if they want to end up being backwards and poor.” He not only took a much-despised position, but insulted voters at the same time. And as Freedland notes, there’s a lot more, like Trump’s unpopular vanity projects and endorsement of scandal-ridden candidates.
“Put it all together,” writes Freedland. “and these look like the actions of a man who has no fear of the blue wave that seems to be coming and who could not care less if it sweeps away the Republicans’ current majorities in Congress. That’s curious, given how useful it has been for Trump to have Capitol Hill serve as a rubber stamp that, combined with a largely pliant Supreme Court, has allowed him to rule with the scarcely fettered power of a would-be autocrat. What could explain the insouciance?”
On one hand, Trump may think that if the Democrats take Congress, they will be unable or unwilling to leverage investigations and impeachment to much effect. But according to Freedland, “That only goes so far. It explains why Trump does not fear Republican defeat in November, but not why he would actively seek it. For that, one has to look into the abyss that passes for the president’s soul. The bestselling new book Regime Change, by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, spells it out: ‘If Republicans were wiped out in the 2026 midterm elections, or in 2028, he could simply boast that they couldn’t win without him’ on the ballot paper. Such is Trump’s narcissism, he will take an epic Republican defeat in two months’ time not as a repudiation, but as a compliment. And, it seems, he is doing all he can to earn it.”