WASHINGTON, October 17 (Reuters) – The U.S. president, Donald Trump, is blaming senior aides and political strategists for the wavering strategy for the midterm elections, questioning campaign spending, criticizing the redraw of electoral districts and questioning the candidates’ choices, as Republicans struggle to maintain control of Congress, said three people familiar with the internal discussions.
Trump is not on the ballot for November 3, but he repeatedly tells supporters to pretend that he is, in the hope of mobilizing voters who otherwise might stay home.
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He has embarked on a frenetic campaign schedule, while largely avoiding acknowledging his own role in shaping the strategy and how his unpopularity is weighing on Republican candidates in tight races.
Much of the friction has focused on James Blair, the longtime adviser who runs Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who had largely escaped criticism so far. Trump criticized Blair’s management of campaign funds, while some White House officials and aides questioned Wiles’s oversight of the political operation.
While Trump questions why campaign spending has not managed to improve Republicans’ poll numbers, his aides are also blaming each other. Wiles pointed at Blair, while Blair blamed the White House’s legislative affairs team, said one of the people.
“What is really happening is a ‘circular firing squad’”, said the source.
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Polls suggest that Democrats will win the House of Representatives, while the Senate race remains too close to call. Losing the House would hurt Trump’s legislative agenda in the last two years of his term and would give Democrats the power to compel witnesses to testify to investigate his administration.
Trump defended Wiles on Friday, calling her “intelligent” and “tough” and saying she would remain in the post. “Susie is here, and she will stay here for a long time,” he said.
The White House spokesman, Davis Ingle, rejected the characterization given by the sources, saying they were “armchair experts spreading their unfounded speculation.” Wiles did not respond to a request for comment.
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TRUMP HAS LONG DISTANCED HIMSELF FROM POLITICAL SETBACKS
Trump has long sought to distance himself from political setbacks. He refused to accept his defeat in the 2020 elections and said, before the results of the 2022 midterm elections, that he deserved “all the credit” if the Republicans won, but “should not be blamed in any way” if they lost. More recently, he reminded the public that the president’s party tends to face difficulties in midterm elections.
But Trump helped develop and push some of the strategies he is now challenging, including the redistricting effort and candidate choices shaped by his personal loyalties or grievances.
Trump’s approval rating is at the lowest point of his presidency, hampered by voters’ concerns about high prices and by discontent with the war against Iran.
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US$200 MILLION AND ELECTORAL REDISTRICTING
With Trump questioning why Republican polling in pivotal races has not improved, despite MAGA Inc.’s campaign spending — which, according to public records, totals US$200 million to date — it is still not clear whether he will approve more spending before the election, said one of the sources.
Trump also pressed political advisers and consultants in the past week to explain why the district redraw initiative that he personally promoted failed to produce more evident Republican gains, said two sources.
Texas is a particular concern. Republicans redrew the state’s electoral map to win seats, but the strategy partly depends on Hispanic voters turning out as they did in the 2024 election. Polls suggest that this support may be hard to replicate amid concerns about the cost of living and the way Trump has run the economy. Some Republicans fear that the new electoral boundaries could backfire, leaving re-election candidates more vulnerable rather than giving the party an advantage.
“The redistricting has fragmented Trump’s voters too much,” said one of the sources. Trump had said Blair should return to the White House after the midterm elections, describing his departure as a “brief leave.” But two sources said his return now is unlikely. “He’s not coming back. That isn’t going to happen,” one of them said.
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It wasn’t entirely clear how things would unfold for Wiles, who played a central role in Trump’s 2024 victory and whom Trump’s allies and aides credit with bringing greater discipline to the White House in his second term.
Trump “may be annoyed by certain things, but she has kept that machine running effectively,” said a fourth White House official.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose, Steve Holland and Bo Erickson, in Washington; additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Alexandra Ulmer)
