Murdoch Paper Warns: Trump Just Put His Own Presidency at Risk
Even the Wall Street Journal thinks the president has made a blunder that could come back to haunt him.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
A newspaper owned by tycoon Rupert Murdoch has warned Donald Trump that publicly humiliating one of his own senators might end up crippling his presidency.
Tempers flared over the weekend as the president tore into three GOP veterans—Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie, both of Kentucky, and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina—for daring to speak out against White House spending proposals currently making their way through the Senate in the form of Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill.’
Amid threats from the president to back a primary challenger in 2026, Tillis announced Sunday he would not be seeking re-election, taking to the floor that evening for a fiery speech in which he slammed the president as “misinformed” and advised solely by “amateurs.”
The Wall Street Journal warns Trump's vicious attack on Thom Tillis and the senator's subsequent decision not to seek re-election have increased the risk of GOP losses at midterms.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag
This, according to the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, may prove to be the first nail in Trump’s coffin.
“When events are going in his direction, he [Trump] has an uncanny habit of handing his opponents the sword,” the newspaper noted, adding that while Sunday’s Senate vote represented a triumph for the GOP, “Mr Trump couldn’t leave victory alone.”
The paper's editorial board added the president's tendency to overturn the apple cart when things are going well for his administration is a known quantity.
MEHMET ESER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty
The editorial board went on to argue that a pre-emptive withdrawal from the race on Tillis’ part “opens another seat that is another pickup opportunity for Democrats next year.”
While Republicans may boast a Senate majority of 53-47 for the time being, the WSJ notes Sen. Susan Collins has always faced “a tough race in Maine,” that the “Democrats are targeting [Senator] Joni Ernst in Iowa,” and that much-reviled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s prospective run against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn could put the party’s foothold in the historically red state at risk.
“GOP legislative reforms will have no chance if Democrats take the House in 2026,” the paper wrote. “And if they also take the Senate, forget about confirming another Supreme Court nominee. The Trump Presidency will be dead in the water.”
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.