Shortly after polls closed last Tuesday, with the scale of the Republican trouncing in the midterms still becoming apparent, Donald Trump briefly adopted an oddly conciliatory tone.
asserted
Trump → close → tone
He declared that he was “absolutely” willing to accept the results, would look forward to working with Democrats and that deportation policies might have been “too tough”.
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policies → declare → Democrats
It was never going to last.
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It → go → ?
He soon cast doubt on the elections’ legitimacy.
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He → cast → legitimacy
On Friday, he replaced his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, with her deputy, Stephen Miller – a white nationalist, or “stone-cold racist”, in the words of Hakeem Jeffries, likely to be the next House speaker.
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he → replace → Jeffries
Ms Wiles executed the president’s decisions faithfully, but was seen as a somewhat calming if not restraining influence, which may help explain her departure.
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which → execute → departure
Every high-profile woman in the administration has now quit or been ousted, and its machismo has increased.
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machismo → quit → administration
Mr Miller is an ideological extremist and attack dog who has spearheaded the expansion of executive power as well as the draconian immigration excesses that alienated many (particularly Latino) voters.
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that → spearhead → voters
He reportedly wants to wind down the war on Iran, but played a leading role in strikes against alleged drugs boats in the Caribbean – extrajudicial killings.
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He → want → Caribbean
Happily for Mr Trump, the reshuffle has turned discussion away from lame ducks and the Republican succession.
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reshuffle → turn → ducks
He does not need the mixed martial arts supremo Dana White as his press secretary; he has enough brawlers.
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he → need → brawlers
On Tuesday, House Republicans picked another aggressive hardliner, Jim Jordan, as minority leader.
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Republicans → pick → leader
He has pledged to fight investigations by the new Democratic majority.
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He → pledge → majority
On the same day, they blocked the attempted impeachment of Pete Hegseth, the self-styled “secretary of war” (with some Democrats also missing the vote).
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Democrats → block → vote
The outgoing Republican congressman Thomas Massie was pressing the case against him over the Iran war and attacks on drugs boats.
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congressman → press → boats
He has shared highly sensitive information on a messaging app and wanted to live stream a military execution.
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He → share → execution
But a case against him might embarrass Mr Trump.
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case → embarrass → Trump
Some still hope that Republicans will have little choice but to hold Mr Trump accountable for last week’s defeat.
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Trump → hope → defeat
JD Vance sought to distance himself by criticising the Iran war, and Ron DeSantis declared that there was “no question” that the results were a rebuke of Mr Trump.
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results → seek → Trump
But GOP politicians either want more Trumpism, or are extremely wary of taking him on, after he torched previous critics.
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he → want → critics
Trump voters are split between the Maga base, which wants to double down (and who turned out last Tuesday) and the rest who want to moderate (and stayed home) – with divisions on everything from datacentres to deportations.
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who → split → deportations
The Republicans can’t win in 2028 with Maga votes alone.
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Republicans → win → votes
Yet the GOP regained power in 2016 by becoming more extreme.
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GOP → regain → 2016
The Democrats now have their own challenge.
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Democrats → have → challenge
They must use their new congressional power to ensure accountability – including pinning corruption in Mr Trump’s circle to the cost of living crisis – while also trying to deliver for voters who need real improvements in their lives.
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who → use → lives
Republicans will seek to tie them up in fruitless congressional battles.
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Republicans → seek → battles
The Trumpist message is so clear that the outgoing speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, even said it out loud: “The voters made the wrong choice.”
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voters → say → choice
The Republicans are promising the electorate more of what they didn’t want.
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they → promise → what
The people have spoken, but the president – and his party – won’t listen.
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president → speak → ?
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Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article?
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you → have → article
If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
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you → like → section
The Aporia
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