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NYT: Inside Team Trump's historic collapse in the 2026 midterms

politicsNov 5, 202624545

The New York Times traces Republicans' rout in the 2026 midterms to an unpopular President Trump, public anger over the Iran war, and a series of internal campaign failures that left the GOP unprepared. Democrats made sweeping gains, flipping multiple seats nationwide and winning all but one of Texas’s newly gerrymandered districts while taking two additional border seats, TX-15 and TX-23. The account, based on interviews with more than 70 participants, describes chaotic private moments inside Team Trump, including the president telling aides both “We’ve gotta win. Anything we gotta do.” and “It says something very nice about me that they just can’t win without me.” Six days before the election, senior strategists met in grim fashion and joked about cyanide pills, reflecting low morale. Trump resisted advice to moderate messaging, clashed with super PACs over whether to focus on the economy or run ads on transgender issues, and delayed or withheld funds for some candidates. Internal and external polling two weeks before the election showed MAGA carried more baggage than other factions, and Minneapolis-related events briefly shifted immigration from a GOP strength to a Democratic advantage. The result produced immediate finger-pointing inside conservative media and calls from some Republicans, including commentator Brett Cooper, for the party to run independently of Trump.

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