President Donald Trump has set his sights on becoming one of history's "great men" — yet he still has concerns that his efforts could be ruined, according to a new report from The Atlantic.
And although the president has said he's not as concerned about "legacy," or even whether his Republican party maintains control of Congress in the midterms, he does have a significant interest in mind.
"He’s been talking recently about how he is the most powerful person to ever live," a Trump administration official and longtime confidant to the president told The Atlantic. "He wants to be remembered as the one who did things that other people couldn’t do, because of his sheer power and force of will."
Trump has often boasted about his accomplishments, yet things are different as he eyes the passing of his second term.
"But it has become even more important in setting his priorities and steering his actions as he hurtles through his final term in office," according to The Atlantic. "He no longer has to worry about the judgment of voters and can instead focus on what he’s decided really matters: ascending to become one of history’s so-called great men and leaving an enduring—and, in many cases, physical—imprint. The result, at least so far, has cost many lives and billions of dollars, damaged the world economy, strained already fragile alliances, and cratered the president’s standing with the public. But those around him cast his new focus as a liberation."
“He is unburdened by political concerns and is able to do what is truly right rather than what is in his best political interests,” an administration official told The Atlantic. “Hence the decision to strike Iran.”
Trump has a different view.
"His focus now is on doing something more enduring with his influence," The Atlantic reported. "Trump worries about being perceived as a lame-duck president, several people told us, including this ally. He has—at least on one occasion —acknowledged his own mortality. Jimmy Carter died in late 2024, during the presidential transition, and when he lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda, Trump watched the proceedings for hours from Mar-a-Lago, transfixed by the coverage, a person close to the White House told us. One day, Trump mused, he would be inside a flag-draped coffin like that."
Trump's attention throughout his second term has frustrated his supporters, who question his motives.
Former Republican and anti-MAGA strategist Sarah Longwell told The Atlantic that during focus groups with Biden-Trump swing voters, people express how Trump's actions have been viewed as "politically irrational."
"So every time he’s focused on the ballroom, every time he’s focused on the Kennedy Center, voters are like, ‘But you’re not focused on Americans. You’re not focused on me. You’re not focused on the economy,’” Longwell told The Atlantic. “Most people are like, ‘I don't care about the ballroom. Just be focused on the economy. That was the whole point of you.’”