Tragically, I’ve watched and listened to and written about Trump for more than a decade. He’s not a complicated person. His id-driven responses are as predictable as the tides.
Trump’s approval tanks to lowest of his presidency
President Donald Trump’s approval rating fell to the lowest level of his presidency, with an overwhelming majority of Americans concerned the U.S. war with Iran will last a long time, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
We’ve now seen the first sign of the inevitable: President Donald Trump, as the Republican Party limps toward a possible midterm election wipeout, will turn on the GOP.
On his Truth Social account on Aug. 26, Trump shared a profane post from a right-wing influencer that read in part: “I don’t think the GOP fully grasp how badly they are f—ing up right now.”
The post went on to suggest Republicans in Congress are responsible for undercutting Trump, claiming that “the GOP continues to slow-walk every reform people want.”
That’s an odd thing for the titular head of the Republican Party to share just a few months out from a pivotal election. Or at least it would be odd if we were dealing with anyone other than Donald Trump.
Donald Trump will always blame others for his own failures
Tragically, I’ve watched and listened to and written about Trump for more than a decade. He’s not a complicated person. His id-driven responses are as predictable as the tides.
So now that we’ve drawn closer to the midterms, and now that his ego feels the weight of bad poll numbers and the likelihood of electoral embarrassment, Trump, sure as day follows night, will blame someone else. And the only “someone else” to be blamed in this scenario is the political party that sold its soul and sense of decency by embracing him.
How can I feel so certain of this? Well, look back on all the things Trump has done – be it in business or in politics or in marriage or in friendships – and tell me this isn’t true: Donald Trump cannot fail; he can only be failed.
Have you ever heard Trump take responsibility for anything?
Find me one instance of this man, in his 80 years, accepting responsibility for anything or admitting to failure of any sort. He has no regrets. His losses are the result of someone else’s scandalous behavior. He has never admitted he lost the 2020 presidential election, choosing instead to undermine the foundation of our democracy by cooking up absurd claims of election fraud or interference.
This is why he has ramped up “rigged election” talk in advance of the midterms and placed fellow conspiratorial travelers in positions that will allow them to question the validity of the results.
Simply put, if the Republican Party loses control of one or both houses of Congress this fall, it will, in Trump’s mind and in his words, be either the fault of some imagined and impossible voting scandal or the fault of the useless Republicans who weren’t strong enough to win. Likely some combination of both.
Trump’s narcissism will force him to point the finger at the GOP
The psychological pain of confronting his own unpopularity or his own political weakness is too much for a narcissist like Trump to handle. He will say anything to avoid that pain, and what he will say, in some form or another, is that Republicans failed him. They didn’t embrace his policies strongly enough. They didn’t lean into what he sees as his boundless popularity and charisma enough. They were cowards. Turncoats.
My bet is we’ll see more of Trump distancing himself from his own party in the months ahead. The GOP made a deal with the devil. Getting tossed under the bus by Trump was always going to be the price they’d pay.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk.