Whatever else President Donald Trump’s attempts to redistrict his way to having Republicans hold onto the U.S. House of Representatives may accomplish, they make one thing clear.
His focus is not on making America great again. Nor is it on helping the working-class Americans who placed their faith with him.
No, it’s about holding onto power at all costs, even if doing so means thwarting the will of free people.
But this shouldn’t be a surprise.
Long before this latest power grab occurred, Trump had shown us who he is. It’s a short trip from trying to strongarm the Georgia secretary of state into manufacturing or changing more than 10,000 votes—which Trump did in 2020—to trying to bully Republican governors and state legislatures into redrawing legislative maps out of cycle to give the GOP an edge in 2026.
A man shameless enough to ask an elected official who put his hand on the Bible and swore an oath to just conjure up votes out of thin air is a man who cares about nothing but his own narrow self-interest.
That self-interest is telling him that he has reason to be concerned about his party retaining control of the House.
If so, it isn’t steering him wrong.
Trump’s devoted followers have never demonstrated a willingness to turn out in force when he’s not on the ballot. The 2018 election was a debacle for him and the GOP, one that made U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, House speaker and transformed the people’s chamber into an instrument that could be used to hold Trump accountable for his constant and casual disregard of both democratic norms and the law itself.
Two impeachments followed, including one that, with a few more votes in the U.S. Senate, might have left Trump ineligible to run for federal office ever again.
If anything, Trump’s policies this time around threaten to produce an even bigger thumping for his party in 2026.
He was restored to the White House to bring prices down, but his herky-jerky, tariff-today, tariff-tomorrow management of the economy has exacerbated inflation and stalled job growth. Because he’s Trump, he always needs to find someone else to blame for his screw-ups, which is why he fired the commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics who made the mistake of telling him the truth about his Mr. Magoo-like approach to encouraging economic growth.
To add insult to injury, he also has stripped health care for many of the Americans who struggle to pay those higher prices with jobs they can’t find.
No wonder he’s looking for a way to cheat.
Few politicians would like to take that track record out for a campaign spin.
The fact that he’s leaning on states with legislative maps, such as Texas and Indiana, that already have been gerrymandered to the point of absurdity indicates how desperate and deprived of conscience he is.
Consider Indiana.
It is a solidly Republican state. In most statewide elections, even the most dubious and ethically challenged GOP candidates—Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales’ ears should be burning right now—can capture more than 50% of the vote.
But even popular, well-respected Republicans generally top out in the high 50s.
Yet, Indiana’s representation in the U.S. House of Representatives is 78% Republican. In the Indiana General Assembly, the GOP holds 80% of the seats in the Indiana Senate and 70% in the Indiana House of Representatives.
Former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, came out against any attempt to redraw the Hoosier state’s legislative maps before the 2030 census requires them to be redrafted.
He told CNN’s Eric Bradner that it would be a mistake to change the maps early, saying it would undermine public confidence in the process.
But he also added that Indiana has “pretty fairly drawn lines now.”
I applaud Daniels for having the nerve to stand up to Trump—which demonstrates a courage that most Republicans lack—but if he really thinks Indiana’s maps are “fairly drawn,” he needs to schedule an appointment with his optometrist asap.
Trump, on the other hand, sees clearly what he wants.
Another chance to grab power, even if he must take that power away from the people he took an oath to serve.
