Trump Fades Some More

The evidence of Donald Trump’s slipping hold on his party is growing.

Yesterday, the Indiana State Senate overwhelmingly rejected Trump’s demand that they rig their congressional maps to provide Republicans with another seat. More Republican senators voted against Trump than with him.

On the same day, four Republicans U.S. Senators voted with the Democrats to extend the Obamacare tax credits. Most notably among them was Josh Hawley from Missouri, who has been trying to carve out a more genuine conservative populism as an alternative to Trump’s huckster version. There’s no question that Hawley is looking past this president to his own ambitions.

And then there’s Marjorie Taylor Greene, who loudly broke with Trump over the health care subsidies and the Epstein files. In the latter case Trump was forced to reverse course and support their release.

This is like toddlers at their first swimming lesson. They’re dipping a toe in the shallow end of the pool and testing their nerve. How deep dare they go? But it’s not something we’ve seen since Trump consolidated his control over the party.

And there are implications for 2026. I had thought this would be the last cycle defined by Donald Trump as all pols needed to define themselves in support or opposition to him. But now I think it’s possible — but still not likely — that we’ve already seen the last cycle in which he defined American politics. We may well see more Republicans trying to simply ignore Trump if not actively distance themselves from him.

Here’s an iron rule of politics: politicians care about themselves and their own jobs. When Republicans needed to be with Trump, they were. If they need to be apart from him they’ll move away. Personal loyalty has never had much to do with politics, but in Trump’s case there is absolutely none. He’ll get just as much loyalty as he’s ever given.

That’s it for this week, folks. I’m off to buy a Christmas tree. Along those lines, I highly recommend “The Merchants of Joy” on Amazon Prime. You know those Hallmark Christmas movies? Yeah, well, it’s not like that.