White House insiders are sounding the alarm that President Donald Trump is far more interested in building his own legacy than improving the economy or ending his war with Iran.
Trump, 80, is frustrating aides by refusing to meaningfully address issues that matter to American voters ahead of the midterms and instead focusing on vanity projects he feels will better cement his place in American history, officials tell the Wall Street Journal.
A senior administration official told the paper that Trump has entered “legacy mode” and is “fixated on how he will be remembered by future generations.” Aides say Trump fears his presidency will be remembered similarly to “past occupants of the White House he views as weak, such as Jimmy Carter.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump confidant, told the Journal that Trump is “one of the handful of presidents who thinks on an entirely historic scale.”
He noted that Trump is obsessed with how he is perceived.
“He wants to be consequential. He wants this to matter,” Gingrich said. “He wants to be the kind of president who people say, you know, it mattered that he was president.”
Trump’s fixation on vanity projects is a problem for other Republicans who want him to spend his time, and the $400 million war chest his super-PAC has accumulated, helping the party hold onto slim majorities in the House and Senate this fall.
Trump’s midterm plan—to run commercials highlighting his own perceived wins, despite his approval rating being 10-plus points underwater in most polls—has reportedly rubbed some of his party-mates in Congress the wrong way.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The president still believes he is the GOP’s greatest asset, despite his approval rating saying otherwise. His fixation on things most Americans don’t seem to care about, like renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America,” threatens to tank those figures even further.
Republicans rode Trump’s name at the top of the ticket in 2024 to win majorities in both chambers of Congress. Now, with his approval rating steadily dropping and inflation rising, Republicans fear they may not just lose the House in November, but possibly the Senate, too.
