Axios: “Fresh off his takedowns of GOP dissenters in this month’s primaries, President Trump is already making a list of Republicans who could be on his 2028 chopping block.”
“Why it matters: Trump’s string of primary wins over GOP adversaries has reaffirmed his dominance over the party — and now he’s looking to extend that influence after he leaves office in January 2029.”
“Here’s the problem for Republicans. They can’t live in the Republican Party without Donald Trump, and they can’t live outside of the Republican Party with Donald Trump because he’s an epically unpopular president.”
— David Axelrod, on CNN.
“President Donald Trump doesn’t believe in a political law of gravity,” the Washington Post reports.
“The more his standing sinks with the country at large — a host of polls show it near its lowest ever — the more he bends the Republican Party to his will and endangers the obeisant GOP’s prospects in the fall with unpopular and even brazen actions.”
“The result is a president historically strong at demanding political fealty within his party but prone to executive actions that alienate the broader public. That paradox has fostered a disinclination — and weakened ability — to act with Congress on issues that matter most to voters, a cycle that Trump is unwilling, or unable, to break.”
“The MAGA takeover of the Georgia GOP is nearly complete,” Politico reports.
“The old-guard of the Republican Party in Georgia has fallen after withstanding MAGA’s furor since 2020, replaced by a new breed of candidates — up and down the ballot — closely aligned with President Donald Trump.”
“President Trump’s grip on the Republican Party remains indisputable, according to the latest New York Times/Siena poll, with a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents wanting to see the next presidential nominee follow his lead on most issues,” the New York Times reports.
“But there are signs that some in the G.O.P. coalition are looking to move beyond the Trump era. Thirty-seven percent want to see the party’s next nominee move in a different direction, including a majority of Republican-leaning independents. And divisions are emerging even among the president’s strongest supporters when it comes to questions about the economy and foreign policy, as the war with Iran has driven up gas prices.”
Wall Street Journal: “If the past couple of weeks have shown anything, it’s that President Trump has still got it.”
“And the ‘it’ is his ability to clean house in the GOP, tossing overboard party members who he alleges aren’t loyal to his brand of conservatism.”
Bloomberg: “If Massie loses, it will add an exclamation point to the president’s revenge tour. It will also up the ante for Texas Senator John Cornyn and state AG Ken Paxton, who have a runoff May 26 and have vied for Trump’s endorsement.”
“And it adds another layer of fear for any Republican considering breaking with Trump on major issues (three GOP senators and three GOP House members voted last week to end the Iran war, for example).”
Said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC): “You can disagree with President Trump, but if you try to destroy him, you’re going to lose because this is the party of Donald Trump.”
Washington Post: “At the height of his political influence, Maryland‘s former Republican governor Larry Hogan was courted as a presidential candidate to offer an antidote to Donald Trump’s takeover of the GOP. But the brand that made him a popular blue state governor never made a splash outside the ‘Never Trump’ world…”
“Instead, in what he calls his ‘Zen’ era, Hogan is announcing Sunday the launch of the nonpartisan Hogan Institute at a small liberal arts college. Vowing to never run for office again, Hogan is instead focused on teaching leadership skills to Washington College undergraduates.”
“President Trump’s push to oust Republican lawmakers who have crossed him claimed its most prominent name yet in Louisiana this weekend, reinforcing Mr. Trump’s dominance in the party, even as the G.O.P. braces for a potential backlash to his presidency in the midterm elections,” the New York Times reports.
“For the second time this month, Republican primary voters sent a message about the price of defying the president, this time by retiring Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Mr. Trump in his impeachment trial after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The outcome in Louisiana on Saturday followed losses by a group of Indiana state lawmakers whom the president targeted for political payback. And it arrived just ahead of another big test on Mr. Trump’s retribution tour: a House primary in Kentucky on Tuesday.”
“The Republican Party is spending big on its ground game — the party’s first major investment in the run-up to the midterms,” NOTUS reports.
“The Republican National Committee sent 34 staffers to 17 states last week to run canvassing operations targeting voters who don’t frequently turn out for elections, a voting bloc that helped President Donald Trump win in 2024.”
A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll finds 49% of U.S. voters say the major parties represent them “not very well” or “not well at all.”
In Utah, that figure jumps to 58%, a 9-point gap that signals something distinctive about the state’s political culture.
“Republicans hoping their party’s standard-bearer will stay focused on voters’ priorities heading into the November midterms caught no relief on Tuesday as the Trump administration announced charges against former FBI director James B. Comey and an aide to former chief medical adviser Anthony S. Fauci, as well as a review of Disney’s broadcast licenses,” the Washington Post reports.
“The latest instances of turning government power against President Donald Trump’s critics and pursuing years-old grievances added to frustrations felt by Republicans who say the president isn’t doing enough to address the signature issues that won him a second term.”
Axios: Trump’s red-meat retribution.
“President Trump is governing like a man who will never face voters again, mortgaging his party’s future on promises he won’t be around to keep,” Axios reports.
“Trump’s approval has plunged to a second-term low. His signature bets — tariffs, the war in Iran, redistricting — are curdling into long-term liabilities the GOP could carry long past November.”
“With midterm elections looming, embattled congressional Republicans would like to be spending their scarce floor time showing voters they are tackling the high cost of living,” the New York Times reports.
“Instead, they are spinning their wheels on a series of bills with limited political payoff, if any, lacking the votes — or the consensus in their own ranks — to move ahead with much else.”
“Six months from voting that will decide control of Congress, Republicans in the House and Senate are bogged down on an intraparty fight over surveillance powers.”
Politico: “A group of House Republicans openly questioned the mid-decade redistricting war sparked by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, a day after a Democratic victory in Virginia threatened the GOP’s chances of holding onto its slim House majority in November.”
“The recriminations are not new — plenty of GOP lawmakers had private doubts about Trump’s aggressive push to draw maps in Texas and other red states. But now members are growing increasingly vocal as it appears the tit-for-tat he started could now result in a Democratic advantage.”
New York Times: “Individual Democratic candidates in key midterm races are doing much better financially than their Republican counterparts. But the party should not get too excited about having more cash.”
“That’s because the Republican Party’s main political committees and allied groups have built a staggering advantage of roughly $600 million over the Democratic ones. The Republican side has about $843.6 million stockpiled compared with just $243 million for Democrats, accounting for debts.”
“A seemingly endless torrent of criticism directed toward Trump from former MAGA allies suggests the president is losing support from his base,” Wired reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
