- Which US president best reflects YOUR political views?
asserted
president → reflect → views
Trump purge BEGINS as insiders name scapegoat
Donald Trump's inner circle expressed frustration with the President heading into the midterms as voters grew wary of the war in Iran and he fixated on the ballroom, a new bombshell report says.
asserted
report → begin → ballroom
The Republican Party is reeling after an historic blue wave swept the United States on Tuesday, with the Democrats taking both the House and Senate by sizable margins.
asserted
Democrats → reel → margins
The blame game has begun, with Trump casting responsibility on the candidates themselves.
asserted
Trump → begin → candidates
But a New York Times report claims members of Trump's midterm strategy team grew frustrated with him.
uncertain
members → claim → him
The GOP claimed Trump waited far too long to sign off on spending from his $400million war chest.
asserted
Trump → claim → chest
The funds – which Trump called 'my money' and came from continued fundraising from after the 2024 election – was something Senate strategists couldn't get him to sign off on as late as August.
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him → call → August
One said they were 'shocked at how ill-prepared they were' and when Trump finally let that money go, the GOP was forced to pay significantly higher rates than Democrats who had purchased ads earlier.
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who → say → ads
An expert claimed that because left-leaning ad buys had been made in advance, Trump's super PAC had to spend four times as much as top Democrat super PACs and got 70 percent fewer ads on the air for that money in Alaska alone.
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PAC → claim → Alaska
The Trump super PAC had to pay $30,000 for a spot that aired during the evening news that Democrats, who reserved the ad time much earlier, paid just $2,700 for.
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who → have → 2,700
Members of Donald Trump's inner circle expressed frustration with the President's focus heading into the midterms, candidate selection and poorly spent campaign funds
James Blair, the man tasked with running the President's midterm strategy, was also behind the President's ill-fated redistricting push
Advisers heard Trump switch wildly in terms of his own interest in the race.
asserted
Trump → express → race
On some days, he would emphasize doing 'anything' to win the midterms.
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he → emphasize → midterms
However, on others, Trump seemed more pleased with how much more popular he was than the candidates he'd hand chosen.
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he → seem → candidates
'It says something very nice about me that they just can't win without me,' he told some aides.
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he → say → aides
Candidate selection was another aspect of the midterm strategy questioned by Trump's team.
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selection → question → team
Michael Whatley of North Carolina, Darline Graham of South Carolina, and especially Ken Paxton in Texas were seen as brutal choices.
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Whatley → see → choices
'I have seen the enemy and it is us,' said James Blair, the man tasked with running the President's midterm strategy.
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Blair → see → strategy
'In many places,' added Tony Fabrizio, the president’s chief pollster.
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Fabrizio → add → places
All throughout 2026, Trump pushed policies that insiders saw as potentially throwing the elections to Democrats.
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insiders → push → Democrats
Tony Fabrizio, the President's top pollster, saw red flags regarding the Iran War in focus groups he conducted
Candidate selection was another aspect of the midterm strategy questioned by Trump's team.
asserted
selection → see → team
Michael Whatley of North Carolina, Darline Graham of South Carolina, and especially Ken Paxton (pictured) in Texas were seen as brutal choices
One noted that the Iran War was a complete misstep at multiple levels.
asserted
War → picture → levels
Fabrizio offered Trump an offramp in June when JD Vance negotiated a ceasefire, which his polling showed was favored by 41 points with voters who knew about and 67 percent saw it as potentially lowering gas prices.
asserted
percent → offer → prices
However, the truce was short lived and the Iran War remains intermittently ongoing into its ninth month, with hawkish members of the GOP like Ted Cruz specifically blamed for keeping Trump interested in the strikes.
asserted
members → live → strikes
In focus groups run by Fabrizio, voters said Trump breaking a promise to avoid foreign wars and they didn't understand why the US was fighting in Iran.
asserted
US → run → Iran
Members of Trump's powerful MAGA base told pollsters two things Trump could do to get them back to voting were ending the war and getting inflation under control.
uncertain
inflation → tell → control
Key members of Trump's staff attempted to get him to moderate on immigration, particularly after the ICE shootings in Minnesota earlier in the year.
asserted
him → attempt → year
The battle was largely fought over months between Chief of Staff 'Ice Queen' Susie Wiles and Stephen Miller, one of the architects of Trump's immigration strategy.
asserted
battle → fight → strategy
Senior strategists saw the Renee Good and Alex Pretti shootings turn immigration from a strong issue for Trump to a weakness.
asserted
shootings → see → weakness
Fabrizio offered Trump an offramp in June when JD Vance (pictured) negotiated a ceasefire, which his polling showed was favored by 41 points with voters who knew about and 67 percent saw it as potentially lowering gas prices
asserted
percent → offer → prices
Key members of Trump's staff attempted to get him to moderate on immigration, particularly after the ICE shootings in Minnesota earlier in the year.
asserted
him → attempt → year
The battle was largely fought over months between Chief of Staff 'ice queen' Susie Wiles (pictured) and Stephen Miller
asserted
battle → fight → Wiles
The President allegedly asked one advisor: 'If we never went into Iran, what do you think would happen in the midterms?'
uncertain
you → ask → midterms
Still, key Trump allies saw his summer of promoting projects to renovate the White House as alienating to voters.
asserted
allies → see → voters
Trump consistently promoted the new White House Ballroom and his attempt to create a public golf course in Washington rather than focusing on key issues.
asserted
Trump → promote → issues
The $5,000 'Trump dividend' was announced at Trump's midterm GOP convention without being run by most of the President's inner circle.
asserted
dividend → announce → circle
Blair, meanwhile, is accused of being responsible for another midterm misfire: redistricting.
asserted
Blair → accuse → misfire
It was Blair who presented Trump with the plan to get more GOP-friendly districts in red states while he was still working in the White House in 2025.
asserted
he → present → 2025
When presented with the plan, Democrat Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reacted with an expletive: 'You’ve got to be f***ing kidding me.'
asserted
You → present → me
However, Democrats largely avoided the worst of redistricting by either recruiting strong candidates in the redrawn districts or countering it with new maps of their own in California, which landed them five extra seats.
asserted
which → avoid → seats
Trump consistently promoted the new White House Ballroom and his attempt to create a public golf course in Washington rather than focusing on key issues
On a private video call just a week before the election, Blair appeared to have seen defeat coming.
asserted
defeat → promote → election
…and 16 more, not listed.