The Wall Street Journal editorial board said Donald Trump has “lost the governing plot” and warned his presidency could be “all but over” if Republicans lose Congress in November, arguing private GOP concerns about his “personal political obsessions” and point
For weeks, Donald Trump has faced a steady drumbeat of criticism from the political right. In its latest round, the Wall Street Journal editorial board delivered a sharper verdict than usual—one that turned from policy judgment to political survival.
The board said Trump has “lost the governing plot” in a string of sharply critical op-eds targeting the president. It framed the situation in stark terms: Trump’s presidency, the board warned, “will be all but over — except for impeachment 3.0 — if the GOP loses control of Congress in November.”
That warning landed on a specific political fear inside the Republican coalition. The conservative editorial board said many Republicans privately admit Trump’s “personal political obsessions are hurting his Presidency.” Those private worries. it said. could spill into the political calendar—raising the risk that the GOP could lose control of both the House and the Senate. with the upcoming 2026 midterms acting as the pressure point.
The Wall Street Journal, owned by Rupert Murdoch, has previously taken Trump to task over his handling of the economy and foreign policy decisions during his second term. In this latest criticism, the board went further, describing Trump’s current conduct as “self-indulgent even by his standards.”
It zeroed in on what it called Trump’s “fixation” on building a White House ballroom. The editorial board pointed to his controversial razing of the East Wing. placing the project at the center of its broader complaint that Trump is steering his presidency toward personal theatricality rather than governing.
The board also criticized Trump’s habit of slapping his name “on everything,” along with his plans for “monuments to French-like grandeur.” In their view, those gestures amount to a personal brand project—not a national agenda.
Throughout the piece, polling served as a hard backdrop. Trump’s polling numbers “continue to sink,” the board wrote, and it argued he “needs a second-year reset, or he is headed toward a second-term failure.”
The picture the board draws is a timeline with consequences attached: worsening polling, Republicans growing uneasy about Trump’s focus, and a congressional power test in November that could quickly determine what’s left of his presidency as the party heads toward 2026.
Donald Trump Wall Street Journal editorial board impeachment 3.0 GOP control of Congress House and Senate 2026 midterms White House East Wing White House ballroom East Wing razing polling numbers Rupert Murdoch