With Republicans’ hold on Congress slipping, President Donald Trump is blaming the people around him, and his advisers are blaming each other, Reuters reported Saturday.
According to three people familiar with internal discussions, Trump has faulted senior aides and political operatives for the GOP’s struggling midterm strategy. He has questioned campaign spending, criticized the redistricting effort and second-guessed candidate choices.
“What’s really happening is a circular firing squad,” one person told Reuters.
The infighting has reached White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who had mostly avoided criticism until now. Some officials and allies have questioned how closely she oversees the political operation, Reuters reported. Wiles has pointed to James Blair, the longtime Trump aide who runs the super PAC MAGA Inc. Blair, in turn, has blamed the White House legislative affairs team.
One person said Wiles approved a controversial overseas trip by Blair without telling Trump.
Trump also wants answers on redistricting. He personally pushed the effort, but it hasn’t produced the clear gains Republicans hoped for, two sources said. Texas is a particular worry, because the state’s new map depends partly on Hispanic voters turning out the way they did in 2024.
“The redistricting diced up the Trump voters too much,” one source said.
Reuters noted that Trump helped design many of the strategies he’s now questioning. His approval rating is the lowest of his presidency, dragged down by high prices and the Iran war. Polls suggest Democrats will take the House, while the Senate remains too close to call.
Trump defended Wiles on Friday, calling her “smart” and “tough.”
“Susie is here, and she’s going to be here for a long time,” he said.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle called the sources “armchair experts peddling their baseless speculation.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has tried to get out ahead of bad results. Before the 2022 midterms, he said he deserved “all the credit” if Republicans won but “should not be blamed at all” if they lost.