President Trump is on the warpath, furiously lashing out at advisers, allies, and Senate Republicans alike as his second term spirals downward in a cascade of self-inflicted defeats and political miscalculations.
According to Politico reporting based on interviews with Trump allies, GOP Senate aides, and people close to the White House, the president has become "increasingly frustrated with everyone, from his own team to the Senate."
"He's p---ed, and people are not recognizing the level of p---ed that he is," a MAGA operative close to the White House told Politico's Playbook. The operative pointed to specific grievances fueling Trump's resentment: Senate Republicans' opposition to his "$1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund," resistance to White House ballroom funding, and the refusal to fire the Senate parliamentarian.
"He does not like being put in a box," the operative said. "When you put him in a box, then Trump's going to blow the box up."
One senior GOP staffer characterized Trump's recent moves as "a middle finger to Congress"—a description that captures the president's increasingly erratic approach to governance.
Trump's fury intensified after his first major electoral defeat of the season: Rep. Randy Feenstra's loss in Iowa's gubernatorial primary despite Trump's endorsement. The president has been relentlessly blaming advisers and consultants for pushing him to make the doomed endorsement, according to the report.
"He's really angry about this Iowa endorsement — like really, really angry," a White House ally said. "He's really angry that his consultants and people pushed him to do that."
The chaos is metastasizing inside the White House, according to the report.
Trump is increasingly relying on a small cadre of direct loyalists while the broader operation becomes more understaffed and isolated, according to those close to the president.
"Knives are out in some capacity. I mean, people are stabbing people. Like, it's chaos. The chaos is like creeping back," one ally told Politico, describing an administration fracturing under the weight of Trump's volcanic temperament and mounting political losses.