Talk about a thumping. After months of struggling to overcome brutal political fundamentals, most Republicans awoke Wednesday to the fresh pain of getting kicked to the curb by the American people, along with a fat dollop of dread about what comes next.
But not President Trump. I suspect he greeted the morning with a tingle of anticipation, if not outright excitement, for what lies ahead: two years of nonstop, bare-knuckle brawling with a Democratic-controlled House and Senate. In other words, Mr. Trump’s idea of heaven.
Yes, the president is a sore loser, as Jan. 6 illuminated in blood and chaos. He got busy early in this election rigging the playing field in his team’s favor, then spent the final months of it pleading with followers to pretend he was on the ballot.
But he wasn’t really on the ballot, meaning he can now tell himself this electoral humiliation had nothing to do with him. And he has never given two flips about the fortunes of the broader G.O.P. So, in his mind, Republicans belly flopping without him probably just confirms his singular importance.
Mr. Trump cares only about developments that affect him directly. As such, he might feel a whisper of unease about his lap-dog Republicans ceding control to crusading Democrats with subpoena power and two years of pent-up rage. After all, one of his go-to campaign pitches to Republican voters this year was that, if the blue team won the midterms, Democrats would immediately revive their unfair persecution of him. Maybe even impeach him a third time!
But, deep down, a Democratic win was surely what he was rooting for all along.
Conflict is Mr. Trump’s jam. The nastier the better. For all his self-aggrandizing talk about building stuff, his true talents lie in combat and destruction. He long ago shattered the spine of the G.O.P., so humiliating its members now is a minor thrill at best. But facing off against Democratic majorities in both chambers still buzzing from their electoral win? Now that is something to live for.
Expect Mr. Trump’s relations with Congress next year to make the partisan hostilities of his first term look like a meditation retreat. The incoming chairmen of the House Judiciary and the Oversight Committees have likely been protein loading and drawing up subpoena lists for months in preparation for their coming investigations into Trump & Company. At least, I sure hope so.
Not that Mr. Trump has ever cared much about congressional authority. Which means we can look forward to rampant stonewalling of Democrats’ requests for documents and witnesses. If at least a couple of administration officials aren’t held in contempt of Congress by the end of next year, it won’t be for lack of trying.
For Mr. Trump, this pandemonium is doubtless much more fun than the thankless tedium of trying to govern. The guy has never been much for policy, unless you count whipping up fear of immigrants and imposing a tariff scheme that seems to have been drawn up on the back of a napkin. And his second-term “accomplishments” thus far have been about as popular as a root canal without sedation.
True to form, Mr. Trump has responded to his failures by whining about the public’s refusal to appreciate everything he has done for them. Pre-election, members of his administration pleaded with voters to just be a little patient, to allow more time for the positive results of the administration’s policies to manifest. Maybe buy their spoiled kids fewer toys in the meantime.
That’s all over now. Going forward, Mr. Trump can simply redirect the blame for all of his incompetence onto Democratic lawmakers. High gas prices? A disastrous war in Iran? More expensive health care coverage? Rural hospitals shuttering? Pfft. If only the radical Communist extremist Democratic majorities would let Mr. Trump work his magic, all those problems and more would have been resolved by now.
Will his blame shifting work? Maybe with the Trump Kool-Aid drinkers. But it is the natural condition of the president to be blamed for most of what goes down on his watch, and a growing portion of the electorate has grown wise to his game.
There has been some speculation about whether, saddled with divided government, Mr. Trump will make an effort to cut a few bipartisan deals. Perhaps pursue populist tax changes or reduce prescription drug costs or … you know, something.
It is indeed pleasant to imagine that the president cares enough about, if not the welfare of Americans, at least his own legacy to get serious about helping people other than his rich cronies and grifter family. I wouldn’t hold my breath. Mr. Trump has never displayed much interest in or patience for working out knotty bipartisan deals. Rather than waste time on policy negotiations, he seems more likely to sit around binge watching Fox News and noodling over how to annoy his Democratic nemeses with yet another monstrous monument to himself.
The closing years of a presidency can be a drag. Especially if, like Mr. Trump, you have done a lousy job. The electorate is tired of you. Your congressional team is increasingly focused on the future beyond you. Worse, people expect you to own the problems you once railed against, along with the failed policies you have rammed through. Where is the joy in that?
Instead, Mr. Trump can now spend his waning days in office wallowing in perpetual combat and chaos. That has always been his happy place, no matter the cost for the rest of us.
Source photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images.
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