Ewan Gleadow

Ewan Gleadow is a breaking news reporter for Raw Story based in the United Kingdom. He previously worked for The Daily Mirror and its sister site, The Mirror US. He also runs the music and culture website, Cult Following.

Behavior expert warns of hidden agenda behind Trump Super Bowl rage

Donald Trump's rant against the Super Bowl halftime show is more about pulling attention back to him than anything else, an analyst has claimed.

The president made his feelings on the show known with a Truth Social rant mocking performer Bad Bunny and the reception he received. Behavioral and confidence expert Shelly Dar told The Mirror US that Trump's response to the Super Bowl halftime show continues a familiar pattern for him.

She said, "Trump isn’t simply saying, ‘I didn’t like it.'" Instead, "he’s saying, ‘This does not belong.’ That’s an important shift. The language jumps very fast from personal taste to national injury — an affront, a slap in the face, something framed as dangerous for children.

"Preference is turned into danger so authority can step in. Once something is framed as a threat to values, to children, to the nation itself, it stops being subjective. It becomes something that needs to be controlled.

"It’s rigid, controlling, moralizing. He positions himself as the judge of what counts as American, acceptable, worthy. There’s no curiosity about what the show was celebrating, no engagement with its cultural meaning. It’s simply dismissed."

In his post, Trump ranted that "nobody understands a word" of the performance and that it was one of the "worst ever" performances the Super Bowl had ever hosted.

Dar believes this is projection from Trump rather than fact. She said, "That comment isn’t really about comprehension, it's more of an exclusion signal. It redraws who America is for, and then claims to speak for everyone. That’s not a critique. That’s boundary policing. It’s saying — this culture, this language, these people are outside the definition of ‘us.'

"He pre-emptively discredits any opposing response. This isn’t about taste, it's about who gets visibility. Who defines culture. And who decides what America is allowed to look like."

Trump believes 'brittle temper' makes him strong — but it's backfiring massively: analysis

A proposed strongman image of Donald Trump is now affecting his presidency negatively, a political analyst has claimed.

Where the president may want to present himself as a man with tough stances on domestic and international policy, CNN's Stephen Collinson believes this image is what weakens the administration. Part of the problem is not just the image, but how Trump responds to world events, according to the analyst.

Collinson wrote, "Lately Trump seems to be winging it more than usual. And he’s getting more extreme. His brittle temper in Washington — a contrast to his sunnier mood at weekends at home in Florida — is increasingly threatening.

"How far he goes in his quest for dominance may depend on the tension between his strongman outbursts and domestic and international political realities that occasionally rein him in."

Collinson suggested there were topics the president could focus on with a clarity lacking elsewhere, but that these moments are few and far between.

He wrote, "Now and again, Trump acts in a conventional, strategic manner — for instance with his unveiling last week of a TrumpRx website designed to lower drug prices — although the plan is far more restrictive than he often claims.

"But the impression of a president concentrating on his own, often erratic goals while being indifferent to the plight of ordinary voters is growing. He told NBC News in a Super Bowl interview aired Sunday, for example, that he was 'very proud' of the economy, making a misleading case that he’d lowered grocery prices across the board.

"While the stock market has been in robust health — the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 50,000 last week for the first time — the Trump economy has yet to deliver its benefits to all income levels. The political cost of this impulsive self-obsession is becoming clear."

A refusal to apologize for a racist video shared to his Truth Social account has since been criticized by Collinson, who says the lack of apology sets a dangerous precedent.

He wrote, "Trump’s refusal to apologize for the racist video that was posted on his Truth Social site underscores how his history of outlandish conduct has insulated him against the consequences of his actions.

"A CEO who posted such material could expect to lose their job. But the White House initially blamed the backlash not on the offensive content but on those who were offended.

"But Republican anger over the post, including condemnation from the only Black GOP Senator Tim Scott, quickly eroded the political foundation of that position. The content was deleted and a staffer was blamed for posting it. Trump insisted he’d not seen the part that was offensive. But he refused to apologize, saying that he’d done nothing wrong."

Retiring senator 'sassing' Trump admin in belief tide turning against president: analysis

Thom Tillis is standing up against President Donald Trump's administration as he believes he will be rewarded in the future for his opposition, political observers believe.

Tillis, who is not seeking re-election to his post as North Carolina's Republican senator, is said to be standing against the Trump storm and MAGA faithful. Frank Bruni, writing in the New York Times, claimed Tillis' position is carefully placed after years of backing the president.

The change has been dubbed a "glorious spectacle" that sees Tillis distance himself from the admin — but not so much against Trump himself.

Bruni wrote, "Tillis seems intent on making his complaints about the Trump administration's errors and overreach as memorable as possible. He also seems to be having a blast. He's sassing. He's smiling. The liberation of conscience does wonders for a man.

"Partial liberation, I should say. Even now, Tillis focuses most of his pique on the people around President Trump rather than the president himself, who's the victim, in Tillis's telling, of 'bad advice.'"

Part of Tillis' change of heart could be that he is not seeking re-election. Bruni wrote. "He’s in the final year of his second term and not running for re-election, so he needn’t worry about some ultra-MAGA hellion taking him on in a primary and getting Trump’s endorsement."

Despite the change of heart from Tillis, who has "reconnected with a past version of himself, the spirited maverick who found common cause with Democrats," there is still a sense that the North Carolina senator is preserving himself politically.

Bruni added, "I’ve heard some political observers speculate that Tillis is selfishly looking ahead to a post-Trump era when Republicans who raised alarms about the president’s policies and conduct will be rewarded for that or at least judged more kindly by history. Maybe so."

This does not vindicate Tillis, Bruni argued, of his involvement with the administration. He wrote, "He also bears some responsibility for all the damage the Trump administration has done.

"He voted to confirm Noem, Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kash Patel and, most notoriously, Pete Hegseth, whose bid to become defense secretary Tillis reportedly tried to scuttle until Trump made the magnitude of his displeasure with that clear."

'Existential crisis' hits MAGA as Super Bowl show leaves Trump scrambling: analysis

President Donald Trump's reaction to Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show has left MAGA facing an uncomfortable truth about its own movement, a political analyst claimed.

While Bad Bunny drew a staggering 113 million viewers, those in the MAGA sphere sought entertainment elsewhere. Kid Rock performed at Turning Point USA, providing an alternative to the Grammy Award-winning artist performing during the Super Bowl break.

The performance from Bad Bunny is enough for MAGA members to reconsider what the public wants — and it was made worse by Trump's rambling response to the ceremony, according to Christopher Bucktin, writing in The Mirror.

He suggested the show had been a stress test MAGA may not survive.

He wrote, "For most viewers, Bad Bunny’s show was exactly what the Super Bowl has long claimed to celebrate — scale, swagger and culture. For MAGA, it was an existential crisis. Spanish lyrics. Brown bodies. Dancing that didn’t look like it came from an Arkansas country bar in 1987. Clearly, civilization was under threat."

Trump's response to Bad Bunny's show fueled the MAGA fire further, Bucktin suggested. He added, "It was less cultural critique than an unhinged aging uncle shouting at the television — except the television was winning.

"What made the outburst even more revealing was Trump’s apparent failure to grasp a basic fact: Bad Bunny is from Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is American. Its people are American citizens. The president of the United States attacking an American artist as foreign is not irony; it is Trumpism in its purest form. If it doesn’t look or sound like his America, it doesn’t count.

"MAGA’s solution, as ever, was to retreat into a parallel reality. Rather than engage with the halftime show the rest of the world was watching, Trump-aligned groups promoted an “alternative” performance headlined by Kid Rock — marketed as a wholesome, values-driven counterweight to the NFL’s spectacle."

Bucktin also noted Trump had abandoned the MAGA showcase Kid Rock had put on and instead voiced his distaste for the Super Bowl halftime show.

He wrote, "Even Trump, a man famous for inflating crowd sizes, didn’t bother watching. Instead, he tuned in to Bad Bunny like everyone else, before angrily informing the world that he hated every second of it. And then came the awkward part MAGA would rather forget."

Cabinet member's 'blazing red flag' blunder 'wildly worse' than Signalgate: expert

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is at the storm of what a former GOP strategist has called a worse moment for Donald Trump's administration than the Yemen leak.

Highly sensitive military information had been leaked inadvertently in March 2025 when a group chat including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance also featured The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. It marked an embarrassing moment for the administration, but there are fears of even bigger new leak problems involving Gabbard, according to political analyst Rick Wilson.

The National Security Agency flagged a phone call between two foreign intelligence members, with highly sensitive communication — reportedly involving somebody close to Trump — brought to Gabbard's attention.

The director, rather than allowing the NSA's investigation to continue, took a paper copy to Susie Wiles, the president's chief of staff, according to The Guardian.

This move could be damaging to the administration, according to Wilson, who appeared on political commentator Molly Jong-Fast's podcast to discuss the problem Gabbard has caused.

Wilson said, "She is in some deep, deep, deep, deep s--t. The intelligence community people who are still around give a damn about their job. They give a damn about the country and the security and she has put us in danger.

"This is at a level that is so above and beyond because of both the nature of the target, whoever this foreign intelligence person was, and the collection system from the NSA that got the information. This is something incredibly sensitive, crown-jewel-level stuff.

"This is a blazing red flag about Gabbard's inability and lack of temperament to do this job."

Fast Politics host Jong-Fast then asked if this situation is "worse or better" than the Yemen strike leak from Hegseth last year.

"This is wildly worse," Wilson replied. "That foreign intelligence person almost certainly will become aware that they are targeting them in a certain way, they will communicate differently.

"The other part of this is what it implicates in the Trump administration. We have seen in what we know of the complaint so far is that the person they were talking to is 'close to Trump,' this does not mean it is a government official.

"Given Donald Trump's propensity for using outside actors, Steve Whitkoff, Jared Kushner, who are not government officials, to conduct diplomacy and foreign policy, I'm deeply concerned that somebody inside the Trump government... gets on the phone and calls another person and says 'did you hear about this thing that we're doing?'"

Trump mimicked as Gavin Newsom counters Super Bowl fury

Gavin Newsom released a statement of his own to counter Donald Trump's furious smackdown of the Super Bowl halftime show.

Grammy Award winner Bad Bunny sparked much derision from the president Sunday night, who signed off on a furious statement on Truth Social. Trump wrote, "The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER! It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence.

"Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World. This 'Show' is just a 'slap in the face' to our Country, which is setting new standards and records every single day — including the Best Stock Market and 401(k)s in History!

"There is nothing inspirational about this mess of a Halftime Show and watch, it will get great reviews from the Fake News Media, because they haven’t got a clue of what is going on in the REAL WORLD — And, by the way, the NFL should immediately replace its ridiculous new Kickoff Rule. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP."

Newsom's Press Office his back with a retort, signing off with a similar signature to that of Trump's Truth Social post.

They wrote, "BEAUTIFUL HALFTIME SHOW. GOD BLESS BAD BUNNY! GOD BLESS AMERICA! — GOVERNOR GCN." The Governor of California also posted from his official X account to praise the performance.

He wrote, "America, the beautiful. THANK YOU, BAD BUNNY."

A counter performance from Kid Rock had been set for broadcast on Turning Point USA's YouTube Channel just after Bad Bunny finished his performance.

Newsom mocked the announcement that the performance would not be broadcast on X due to licensing restrictions. A statement from Turning Point USA confirmed they would only broadcast the show on YouTube.

Their statement reads, "Due to licensing restrictions, we are unable to stream The All-American Halftime Show on X." Newsom's Press Office replied, "Even Elon doesn't want to listen to Kid Rock!"

Trump's boast backfires as medical expert points out mental and physical side effects

The administration backing Donald Trump may boast about his energy levels but it does not change his ailing health, a medical professional has said.

The president said just last week that he does not "sleep much" while Vice President JD Vance says other staffers struggle to keep up with the amount Trump works. Vance said that a 20-hour trip will see little in the way of sleep for the president or his team and that "if he's not sleeping, if he's working, he expects everybody else to be working too."

While this boast from the admin is made to make Trump look busy and healthy in the face of growing concerns over his health, Dr Ritz Birah has told The Mirror US that the president is far from spritely.

Seven to nine hours of sleep a night is the recommended amount "to support optimal brain function, emotional regulation and physical health" in someone Trump's age. The 79-year-old Commander in Chief has had his admin back the "off the charts" energy levels, but that is not a sign of good health, Dr Birah says.

"In the short term, insufficient sleep reliably affects attention, working memory, impulse control and decision-making," he said. "From a psychological standpoint, this means the brain becomes more reactive, less flexible and more prone to errors in judgment.

"Emotional regulation is also impaired, with increased irritability, reduced tolerance for stress and a greater likelihood of threat-based thinking. These effects are well documented, even when individuals subjectively feel alert or energised."

Further problems can be associated with a potential "sleep debt" Trump is paying, catching up on missed hours of rest through the day. Sleep debt has been associated with an "increased risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, mood disturbance and cognitive decline".

Trump last year declared he had passed a cognitive test with flying colors and also confirmed he had been taking aspirin against his doctor's orders.

In an interview with NBC, Trump confirmed he is still taking aspirin and "I don't want to change". He added, "I want that blood to be nice and thin running through my heart."

Trump runs risk of 'devastating' GOP's midterm chances with new military conflict

Donald Trump could sink the GOP's midterm chances even further should he take military action in Iran.

Whether the president does so is yet to be seen, but CNN political analyst Stephen Collinson believes the administration may take action. It would follow strikes made last year on Iran, and could plunge the US into a war with the potential to go wrong enough that it would affect the voting intention at home.

Collinson wrote, "Iran, the seat of the ancient Persian civilization, is more contiguous and less plagued by sectarian divides than Iraq — which splintered after the US invasion in 2003. But no one wants to test the impact of a power vacuum if the government falls, in the absence of any clear path to a return to democracy.

"And the short, sharp thunderclap strike of the type Trump prefers and that doesn’t conflict with the no-foreign-quagmires mantra of his MAGA movement may not be sufficient to topple the clerical regime in Tehran.

"But a longer military engagement with uncertain consequences would severely test Americans’ trust in their president. A war that went wrong could devastate Republicans in November’s already unpromising midterm elections."

Trump may also be bolstered by his administration's recent activities in Venezuela. Collinson added, "A sense of hubris has gathered around the White House since the toppling of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro last month.

"But major US combat deaths in an Iranian war could effectively drain all the power and legitimacy from Trump’s second term."

Part of the problem too, Collinson says, is that Trump has no problem in kindling a counter protest in Iran.

"Trump’s predecessors avoiding encouraging a counter-revolution in Iran because they feared providing a pretext for even more fierce repression against demonstrators seen as US proxies," he wrote.

"Trump had no such qualms and his vow that the US was “locked and loaded” to punish Tehran for its crackdowns conceivably brought more people onto the streets.

"One option for Trump would be to ink a rudimentary deal and hype it as a great victory — the great salesman’s certainly done this before.

This might placate war-weary US voters, but it would send a clear message of a climbdown to US adversaries and tarnish his global strongman aura."

Trump could be preparing 'tacky MAGA horror show' for end of his presidency: analysis

Donald Trump could be planning a major, MAGA-themed blowout for the final year of his presidency, a political analyst has claimed.

Whether the president makes the most of his last year in office in 2028 is yet to be seen, but Slate columnist Justin Peters thinks Trump could pull out all the stops with a garish display. With both the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics set to take place in the US, the president could be testing the waters of how MAGA will look on the world stage.

The 2028 Olympic Games, which will be hosted in Los Angeles, will be a chance for Trump to throw his weight around one last time, according to Peters. He wrote, "What I’m saying is that Donald Trump probably can’t ruin the Olympics—or at least he can’t ruin these Olympics.

"Once the 2026 Winter Games conclude, the global sporteaucracy will set its sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Games, which will be held in the final year of Trump’s second presidential term. There is every reason to think that Trump will go out of his way to ensure that those Olympics are a tacky MAGA horror show made in his own image."

Financial strains could be a part of that power play too, with the United Nations announcing it is on the brink of insolvency due to unpaid US debts. $2.2billion in debt is yet to be repaid and will likely remain unpaid, with the International Olympic Committee potentially collapsing as part of the UN's announcement.

Peters added, "But that dark day is still a couple of years away, and there’s little point in worrying about the prospect of Olympic medals minted with Charlie Kirk’s face on them.

"For now, there are plenty of more pressing problems for us to freak out about all day, every day. But I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m not thinking about any of that while I’m watching the luge.

"The Olympics are quaint in the best way, insofar as they are the sort of well-meaning project that people like Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin would never, ever come up with on their own. They are the least terrible, still objectively bad thing we’ve got going right now. That’s something, at least."

Bush White House cardiologist flags new Trump health claim oddity: 'This makes no sense'

A former White House cardiologist believes a recent health claim made by Donald Trump has little grounding in fact.

Jonathan Reiner, the former doctor to Vice President Dick Cheney, responded to a claim made by the 47th POTUS that he takes aspirin against his doctor's orders. In an interview with NBC, Trump confirmed he is still taking aspirin and "I don't want to change". He added, "I want that blood to be nice and thin running through my heart."

Reiner, director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory at The George Washington University Hospital, has since shared that Trump's logic here makes little sense.

In a post to X, he wrote, "This still makes no sense." Earlier this year, Reiner suggested he is concerned about the president's health, and not just because of the aspirin intake. Speaking to The Lead host Phil Mattingly, Reiner says the public has received almost no "meaningful" information on Trump's health.

In summer 2025, Trump had swollen ankles and another series of tests were conducted to check in on the president's health. Cognitive tests were also carried out on the president across 2025.

Reiner said at the time, "Now we learn the president didn't have an MRI. He actually had a CT scan, which explains why the president's physician didn't describe the test after the president disclosed his MRI, because he didn't have an MRI."

Reiner would also comment on Trump's use of aspirin as making "no sense". He said, "It's not like changing something from gumbo to chicken soup."

The former White House cardiologist has since called for an inquiry into Trump's mental fitness, with Reiner suggesting the president's reaction to not winning the Nobel Peace Prize is ground for an investigation.

He wrote at the time, "This letter, and the fact that the president directed that it be distributed to other European countries, should trigger a bipartisan congressional inquiry into presidential fitness."

The letter had been written by Trump and sent to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, where the president told Norway he no longer felt "an obligation to think purely of peace" when it came to the country.

GOP lost Texas seat because 'people are getting sick' of one MAGA priority: columnist

Republican Party representatives misread the Texas Senate election according to a political analysist who says one issue was an overstep from the party.

Democrat Taylor Rehmet would go on to defeat Republican Leigh Wambsganss in the special election for the Texas state senate position. It was a shock result considering Donald Trump had carried it by 17% in the 2024 election. But just two years later there has been a 31% swing away from the GOP to Democratic Party candidate Rehmet.

The reason for this may be a subtle one, according to Salon columnist Amanda Marcotte. She wrote, "There are strong signs that Rehmet won in no small part because suburban Fort Worth has long been on the frontline in the culture war over book banning.

"Wambsganss built her political career advocating for strict censorship in schools and libraries, and her loss signals that, even in this very conservative district, people are getting sick of the far-right telling them what they cannot read."

Librarians from the area where Rehmet won the election also considered the effects of Wambsganss' rhetoric over reading. Audrey Wilson-Youngblood said a "huge swath of pro-book banning candidates" were elected to the school board, and that those in the area were growing tired of their choices.

Wambsganss made no secret of her thoughts on arguing for certain books to be banned. In 2022, she said all books with LGBTQ+ characters should be banned because it is "normalizing a lifestyle that is a sexual choice".

Marcotte went on to suggest there are lessons here for the Democratic Party to take into account against their GOP opponents across the country.

She wrote, "Rehmet’s win shows that, at least in some places, MAGA’s threats to peace and freedom on the local level remain a pressing concern. A lot of voters want the culture war chaos to go away, especially when it comes to schools, so the kids can concentrate on learning.

"In many places, Democrats can win with a message of protecting the right of kids to learn in peace, instead of being the targets of a mind control project run by Bible-thumpers. If it worked in suburban Fort Worth, it’s a strategy that could rack up Democratic wins in other red districts."

'There'll be drama': Republican split expected on bill that could freeze out some voters

A bill set to be presented to the House of Representatives could freeze out military members stationed overseas from voting in elections.

Exceptions in the bill do address these concerns, according to co-author Chip Roy (R-Texas), but proponents are calling for some tighter definitions when it comes to defining who can and cannot vote.

Roy believes this will not be an issue and that "true absentee ballots" would be allowed, and said he is keen to get the bill in front of Donald Trump to have it signed into law.

He told Politico, "They get on the Senate floor, they can call the question, if there are people willing to speak … there’ll be drama, and then we’ll see what happens. We’ll see who wins, but that’s what we’re supposed to do."

It could be a bill the president approves of quickly, with Trump airing his dislike for mail-in ballots in the past. He once called mail-in ballots "corrupt" and in recent days has called on an effort for the Republican Party to "nationalize" voting in 15 unnamed states.

He said, "The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over. We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting."

Trump's call for a political party to control the election cycle comes not long after administration officials made moves to exert more control on the process.

He added, "If Republicans don’t get them out, you will never win another election as a Republican. It’s crazy how you can get these people to vote. If we don’t get them out, look, Republicans will never win another election."

Voter ID has also been a target of Trump's rhetoric, with the president saying he "ought to pass" the SAVE America Act.

He said, "Our elections are crooked as hell, and you can win — not only win elections over that and not only win future elections, but you’ll win every debate because the public is really angry about it."

Jimmy Kimmel rips into 'dumb and embarrassing' Trump over disastrous NBC interview

Jimmy Kimmel has torn into Donald Trump after the president's NBC interview, where the president refused to rule out a third term in office.

Talk show host Kimmel highlighted the many shortcomings of the president from the interview, including a comment on how the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti were deemed "bad publicity" for the government by Trump. Speaking during the opening monologue of his talk show, Kimmel highlighted a handful of tough moments from the president in the sit down with NBC.

Kimmel said, "Trump believes that, ultimately, what we have here is a simple failure in communicating. That's the real tragedy, the impact on publicity. Nobody ever talks about the tens of thousands of people we don't murder at these protests.

"Trump said so many dumb and embarrassing things during the interview, he may have to sue himself for another $10billion dollars. The good news is we only have three more years of this left."

A clip of Trump refusing to rule out being president in 2029 then played, where the president says it would be "less exciting" if people knew whether he would run for a third term.

Kimmel added, "I feel like I speak for the vast majority of Americans when I say we are ready for our lives to be so much less exciting. I think we would enjoy living in a country where we don't all feel like being on the back of the bus from Speed morning, noon, and night."

The family of Renee Good, who was shot and killed last month by an ICE agent, have since criticized the government. Her brother, Luke Ganger, said, "The deep distress our family feels because of (Renee’s) loss in such a violent and unnecessary way is complicated by feelings of disbelief, distress and desperation for change."

"The completely surreal scenes taking place on the streets of Minneapolis are beyond explanation," he added. "This is not just a bad day or a rough week or isolated incidents — these encounters with federal agents are changing the community and changing many lives, including ours, forever.”

Trump 'fears losing power' and is now 'more dangerous' because of it: analysis

Donald Trump's grip on power could be slipping and that makes him much more dangerous, according to a political analyst.

The president has thrown his weight around when it comes to Greenland, Venezuela, and recently suggested the Republican Party should assume control of election cycles in 15 states. This, among other reasons, makes it a troubling development according to Salon writer Chauncey DeVega.

She wrote, "Like other autocrats and aspiring dictators, Trump’s escalating behavior reflects not absolute strength and power but a deep-seated fear that he may instead lose it. This makes the president and the MAGA movement all more dangerous.

" Trump, his MAGA Republicans and their allies control every organ of state power, and they will continue to use it to their own corrupt ends.

"In most serious political fights or other types of battle, the other side usually gets a say in the outcome. Pro-democracy Americans are being reminded of that reality as their hopes for a cowed Trump and an easy victory dissolve."

The power shift could be further fueled by off-year election cycles and the upcoming midterms, which many are predicting will wipe the Republican Party majority in the Senate.

DeVega added, "Democrats continue to defeat Republican incumbents in off-year and special elections. Most recently, in Saturday’s special election in North Texas’s 9th District, Democratic candidate Taylor Rehmet defeated Leigh Wambsganss by 14 points. A blue wave in the November midterms appears increasingly likely — assuming elections remain reasonably free and fair."

Trump's looser grip on power had been profiled by Stephen Collinson earlier this week, with the president seemingly worried by dwindling polling numbers.

CNN analyst Collinson believes the recent Texas election result will have Trump fretting despite his complete control over an administration team filled with true believers.

Collinson wrote, "He showed yet again Monday he’s obsessing about the midterm elections — two days after a Democratic upset in a reliably Republican state Senate district in Texas offered another ominous sign for the GOP in November."