After we recorded, The New York Times posted a piece reporting at length that Trump’s ballroom, slush fund, and overall “self-indulgence” (translation: deranged megalomania) have “alarmed” Republicans about the midterms, again confirming the thrust of this conversation.
Donald Trump has been spinning wildly about his success in ousting disloyal Republicans in primaries, and he has been succeeding at that. But underneath this story is a much bigger truth. Trump is losing control of the GOP on many fronts, and his political project is failing more broadly. Trump’s corruption is forcing Republicans to abandon him, and he’s trying really hard to turn that around, as a crazed tirade on Truth Social reveals. There are other signs of failure too. For instance, the Kilmar Abrego Garcia criminal case was just dismissed as a vindictive prosecution.
Jason Linkins: It’s great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Republican senators just unloaded on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche over the slush fund. House Republicans shelved a vote on a measure ending the war because they didn’t have the votes to defeat it. Jason, how do you explain this sudden GOP move against him?
But the cartoon villainy has gotten to a point that, outside of a rump that I think you’ve argued in the past—and I believe you’re going to be correct—is starting to shrink, he doesn’t really have the same kind of power and influence. We’ve seen now on a few votes, and specifically some related to what I would term graft corruption—this ballroom he wants to build and this insane slush fund that he wanted to assemble for himself to dole out to his political allies—you’re seeing prominent elite GOP electeds balk at this.
“I gave up a lot of money in allowing the just announced Anti-Weaponization Fund to go forward. I could have settled my case, including the illegal release of my Tax Returns and the equally illegal BREAK IN of Mar-a-Lago, for an absolute fortune. Instead, I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration, receive, at long last, JUSTICE!”
Linkins: Well, I think one thing that stands out to me is the fake magnanimity that he’s trying to project in that statement. He had the good fortune of negotiating both sides of the settlement. There was no real conflict.
There used to be consequences for stuff like Teapot Dome or Watergate. But this Republican Party is so clapped out and absented that there’s no accountability possible until, you know, such when the day comes and perhaps Democrats have power again.
The ballroom is already a problem for them. You’ve had Republicans telling the press that they don’t want to defend the ballroom precisely because it’s impossible to do when there’s so much economic pain out there.
Linkins: There is some widespread contentiousness within the Republican caucus. Elite figures like Mitch McConnell are angry about this. The potency of a president who spends most of his time now—when he talks to reporters—talking about the stupid architecture projects he’s working on, renovating the White House, building an arch, spending money on himself, spending money on January Sixers, when there is a massive economic crisis happening. And it is all down to the fact that Donald Trump, again and again, pushed the “fuck up the economy” button instead of doing almost anything else to solve a problem.
Sargent: I want to play a couple of things that Donald Trump said at a rally. Listen to this.
Sargent: And now listen to this.
Sargent: Well, that’s just unbelievably out of touch with what’s actually going on. Jason, the new Fox News poll has Trump’s approval on the economy at 29 percent to 71 percent disapproval. On inflation, it’s 24 percent to 76 percent—fewer than one in four American voters approves of Trump’s handling of inflation—and he’s out there extolling the stock market and mocking the idea of affordability. Could that be more disconnected from reality?
They are now basically a full-time media operation, trolling and creating content. And the president is checked out. He is building a ballroom, building a triumphal arch, and posting on Truth Social long into the night. This isn’t a party that’s going to solve a problem or turn anything around.
Sargent: Just to close this out, you had this great piece recently arguing that corruption is a much more pressing political issue in the minds of voters than our media elites allow for. We saw this in the Hungary election. And I think we’re now seeing it in the Republican panic about Donald Trump’s corruption as well.
Linkins: The anti-corruption message, first of all, it reaches your turnout voters, the people you need to be coming to the polls to add to the base—the ones that you want to be extra coming to the polls, adding to the masses you’ve already got. It’s also a great message for independent voters, the kind of people that might shift in direction either way. Corruption really sits poorly with independents. I think even you made this point in a recent piece.
Back in 2012, one ad of Mitt Romney talking to elite donors as martini glasses clinked in the background—such a potent moment. People understand what’s going on when they see these images, when they hear these words, and it turns them off.
The omega is then putting forth a real effort to hold these corrupt actors accountable, put them in jail, make sure there are consequences, hold them accountable. Because we cannot afford another era of looking forward to avoid looking backward. This is a criminal enterprise being run out of the White House. They cannot be allowed to stand. They cannot be allowed to fade into memory without punishment being doled out.
Linkins: Thanks for having me.
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