South Korean media: Trump has become a de facto "lame duck"? ... The Republican Party officially cut ties with him
After the critical election on the 4th, the American Republican Party suffered a major defeat, and US President Donald Trump, who cannot run for the next presidential election, is said to have entered a de facto "lame duck" (power loss in advance) situation. On the 6th, the professional political media site "Politico" reported: "After suffering an astonishing election defeat, party members began to keep a certain distance from Trump and started preparing for the 'post-Trump era'."
In the elections on the 4th, including the mayor of New York, the Republicans suffered their worst election defeat since Trump took office. Not only did the Democrats win in traditional strongholds such as New Jersey and Virginia, but they also achieved unexpected victories in swing states like Georgia and Pennsylvania. A sense of crisis that "if this continues, the Republicans may lose their majority status in both the House and Senate in the 2026 general election" quickly spread within the Republican Party.
According to "Politico", after the shocking defeat, Trump convened Republican senators at the White House and pressured them to say: "Even if we change the rules, we must be more powerful in the legislature to suppress the Democrats." However, the senators returned to the Congress and effectively ignored Trump's demands. Especially those who are about to retire and have no concerns about re-election began to publicly express their dissatisfaction. A Republican congressman said: "Trump has almost no ability to negotiate with the opposing party," and "it's time to accept reality."
The cold atmosphere within the Republican Party is also related to the current structure of the party, that is, if Trump does not run personally, the Republican vote will drop significantly. Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn said: "Without Trump on the ballot, the Republican support base would greatly decrease." In other words, although Trump's political influence still exists among the core supporters of the Republican Party, for the congressmen, how to survive in "elections without Trump" has become more important.
Regarding this, "Politico" analyzed: "Although Trump has been making suspicious comments about running for president for the third time, the Republican congressmen know that Trump will not run again," and "they have realized that following Trump's issues too much is not a good idea."
On the 6th, the U.S. government "shutdown" (suspension of operations) entered its 36th day, and the budget bill processing remained stuck. It is reported that some Republican House members expressed dissatisfaction, saying: "Trump is hindering negotiations, which has worsened the situation." Due to Trump's trusted aides on the budget pushing hardline strategies such as cutting the Democratic local project budgets and openly declaring to fire civil servants, leading to repeated political conflicts with the Democrats, the channels for negotiation between the two parties have been effectively blocked.
"Politico" analyzed that Trump has been posting on Truth Social recently, saying: "Our movement has just begun," and denying the crisis theory, but the dilemma within the Republican Party was once again highlighted: without Trump, it is difficult to cope with the election, and aligning with Trump will lead to being abandoned by the middle voters. Although Trump's term still has more than three years left, considering the intra-party campaigns starting next year, the midterm elections, and the public opinion in the districts, the Republican congressmen are gradually beginning to adopt a "lame duck" strategy towards Trump.
Source: Chosun Ilbo
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848127249096704/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.