{"id":428,"date":"2026-06-15T09:41:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=428"},"modified":"2026-06-15T09:41:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:41:37","slug":"trumps-lasting-legacy-is-trump-himself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=428","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Lasting Legacy Is Trump Himself"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When a former U.S. ambassador reached out to Donald Trump seeking his endorsement for a congressional bid, the president declined. In Trump\u2019s mind, he\u2019d already done enough.<\/p>\n

Read more Republicans Wish Trump\u2019s Favorite Voting Bill Would Just Die Already<\/a><\/p>\n

The president said he wouldn\u2019t endorse the candidate ever again because, to him, the person would be called \u201chonorable\u201d for the rest of their life. \u201cI literally changed your name,\u201d Trump told the candidate in a conversation relayed to NOTUS by a person familiar with what was said.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s stance is indicative of a defining feature of his political view: Loyalty is worth rewarding, but rewards don\u2019t last forever. Changing someone\u2019s name or the physical appearance of Washington does, though, and that\u2019s the defining legacy Trump is focused on.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was in a friend-gathering mode before,\u201d one GOP political operative said of Trump\u2019s relationship with Republicans in Congress. \u201cAnd now he doesn\u2019t give a shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is where the president and the Republican Party he has torn down and rebuilt now find themselves. Yes, Trump has stocked the party with loyalists. No, he doesn\u2019t particularly care about what happens to them after he\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n

NOTUS spoke with more than a dozen Republican former and current lawmakers and officials for this story \u2014 some who love Trump and some who decidedly do not. But they all agreed that Trump\u2019s lasting legacy on the Republican Party is, well, Trump himself.<\/p>\n

Former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pennsylvania), who has long criticized Trump, told NOTUS that if the president \u201ccared about the election prospects\u201d for the GOP, \u201che wouldn\u2019t be asking for a billion dollars for a ballroom. He certainly wouldn\u2019t be talking about it every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump is staring down difficult midterms followed by his lame-duck years, a period recent presidents have largely spent doing whatever is best for their party. Barack Obama raised gobs of money for Democrats and campaigned for anyone who asked him to. George W. Bush spent the end of his presidency lying very, very low. But Trump is knee-deep in his own personal obsessions \u2014 aesthetics<\/u><\/span>, revenge<\/u><\/span> \u2014 and has done little to suggest he\u2019s preparing to fortify the party for a post-Trump future.<\/p>\n

He hasn\u2019t exactly been subtle about his feelings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care about the midterms,\u201d Trump recently told reporters, as a counter to how he believed Iranian leaders were assessing his will.<\/p>\n

Some Republicans think November\u2019s elections will be the final test to determine Trump\u2019s future influence over the party. Former Rep. Fred Upton, who represented Michigan and was one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump in 2021, said November will serve as a \u201creal punch to the gut\u201d or \u201cpat on the back\u201d depending on if Republicans can hold to the House or Senate or both.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf either of them flips, all of a sudden, the revenge tour that Trump has been on the last year and a half changes dramatically for the worse for his administration, in terms of subpoenas, in terms of hearings, in terms of getting anything done,\u201d Upton said.<\/p>\n

Others think Trump is already off to a bad start.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/b>I think he\u2019s endangered the midterms by alienating MAHA, alienating DOGE, alienating people who didn\u2019t want another war,\u201d said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), who has reason for a grudge after Trump went all-out to oust him from Congress<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Olivia Wales, a White House spokesperson, said Trump is the \u201cunequivocal leader and best messenger for the Republican Party, and he is committed to maintaining Republican majorities in Congress moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe American people elected President Trump in a landslide in 2024 alongside Republican majorities in the House and Senate \u2014 and they expect Republicans in the 119th Congress to keep delivering on the clear America First mandate voters issued. There has never been a president in American history who has fought harder and done more to keep his promises than this President, and anyone suggesting otherwise must be delusional,\u201d Wales continued.<\/p>\n

Some congressional Republicans are more broadly frustrated by how Trump treats them. One House Republican pointed to their experience at the White House congressional Christmas party last year, where they said Trump skipped the customary meet-and-greet and instead just gave a speech, outdoors in December, from the bottom of the residence steps. They added that they\u2019d felt more welcome at the Biden-Harris party the year before.<\/p>\n

Read more 84-Year-Old Mitch McConnell Hospitalized, Spokesperson Says<\/a><\/p>\n

Should Democrats regain control of the House, Republicans expect congressional oversight will overshadow any Trump priorities.<\/p>\n

Some Republicans in Congress privately think Trump\u2019s policy decisions have already hamstrung the party\u2019s chances to maintain the House, and some are nervous about keeping the Senate \u2014 a possibility that seemed unlikely a year ago.<\/p>\n

Others think the president\u2019s earlier focus on a fund to compensate people who claimed they were harmed by the so-called weaponization of the government \u2014 including the scores of individuals who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 \u2014 was a pointless distraction. The administration eventually rescinded<\/u><\/span> the plan but not after a weekslong public debate that dominated peak primary season.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur candidates, instead of spending time talking about the positive effects of working families, tax cuts, regulatory reform, those things, we\u2019re talking about a bogus payout fund for punks, so that doesn\u2019t help,\u201d Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) told NOTUS.<\/p>\n

Trump has been the dominant force in Republican primaries this year. His power to pick and choose winners has forced incumbent Republican representatives and senators into early retirement. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) lost his primary<\/u><\/span> last month to the state\u2019s Trump-endorsed attorney general, Ken Paxton. Trump\u2019s allies spent millions of dollars to defeat Massie and at the end, the president\u2019s closest allies gloated about his predicted downfall.<\/p>\n

And as the president heads to the halfway mark of his last term, it\u2019s clear he is trying to cement his legacy \u2014 one centered around the Trump imprint on physical fixtures rather than an abstract and changing political party. Trump has reverted to his real estate and development background and steered his focus to beautifying the nation\u2019s capital with \u2014 to name a few \u2014 a golf course takeover<\/u><\/span>, a significant White House remodel and the refoiling<\/u><\/span> of D.C. statues back to their gilded origins.<\/p>\n

Still, many Republicans feel the tradeoff has been worth it. Trump kept his promises to appoint conservative Supreme Court judges, expand the party and secure the border.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s definitely been the power behind our party\u2019s growth. I mean, there\u2019s no question the party has grown, we\u2019ve grown in majorities everywhere,\u201d Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) told NOTUS. \u201cThe question is, how do we sustain it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Border crossings are at a 50-year low, according to a Pew Research analysis<\/u><\/span>. The problem was addressed with such expediency that many lawmakers running for reelection feel the issue does not carry the same weight it did in the last election.<\/p>\n

Past the midterms, there is still a looming concern among Republicans, many who will admit it only privately, that Trump has prioritized his personal interests over the Republican Party\u2019s. Only those no longer in his good graces take the swing, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would certainly say the family\u2019s business, or the ability to increase their net worth, definitely seems like a priority, because that\u2019s happening at a record pace,\u201d former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) said of Trump\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n

Davidson defended Trump, calling him \u201cvery unselfish,\u201d citing his refusal to take a paycheck due to \u201chis decision to serve our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cornyn, who spent his primary campaign trying to get into Trump\u2019s good graces only for the president to endorse his opponent a week before the runoff, was blunt in his assessment of how much Republicans should go out of their way to help Trump now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to be a thorn in his side intentionally, but I\u2019m also not going to go out of my way to try to appease him,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of us have bent over backwards trying to get along, and obviously that doesn\u2019t make any difference to him at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Congressional Democrats Are Checked Out of D.C.\u2019s Mayoral Race<\/a><\/p>\n

Hamed Ahmadi and Igor Bobic contributed to this report.<\/i> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The president is rebuilding the Republican Party in his own image. 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