There’s Time For Trump To Turn Things Around Before Midterms
This opinion piece by Eddie Scarry of The Federalist surveys Trump’s trajectory eight months into his second term in 2026.It acknowledges notable gains, including a tougher deportation operation, falling crime rates, ongoing economic recovery, and foreign moves such as removing a Venezuelan despot and pressuring Mexico on narco-state issues. It also praises 2025 accomplishments like pardoning January 6 prisoners, ending a USAID program, and rolling back DEI initiatives across the federal government. Yet it argues that recent weeks have dampened morale: immigration enforcement in Minnesota has faced limitations, Trump’s attendance at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner is seen as legitimizing controversial figures, and he has begun what the piece calls an “indefinite war” in the Middle East, with hints he might endorse Texas Senator John Cornyn over Ken Paxton.
The author contends this shift runs counter to core MAGA priorities-lowering prices, expelling illegal immigrants, and de-escalating international conflict-and suggests time remains to salvage the midterms if focus is restored. The piece urges Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act to bolster election security and to pressure Democrats to back measures that reduce living costs, improve safety, and sustain essential federal reforms. It also advises Trump to direct agencies to propose domestic initiatives that boost housing, energy production, and taxpayer savings.Ultimately, it emphasizes that the only poll that matters is voters’ preferences, implying the race is still recoverable if the campaign returns to its foundational goals.
It’s only a little more than a month into the second year of President Trump’s second term, but it’s turning out to be a MAGA disappointment. Fortunately, there’s still time ahead of the November midterm for Trump to get his administration back on course, make substantial progress on his campaign agenda, and make the coming elections at least not as bad as they’re set to be right now.
There have been big wins in 2026, to be sure. The administration turbocharged its deportation operation, crime rates are still falling, and the economy continued to recover from the dismal Biden years. Trump even fired Kristi Noem from Homeland Security, mercifully sparing the nation from more of her Barbie-Goes-To-The-Border looks. On the global scene, Trump took out a problematic despot in Venezuela and strong-armed the Mexican government into more aggressive policing of its narco state.
And virtually all of 2025 was nothing but wins: Trump righteously pardoned Jan. 6 political prisoners, ended the USAID scheme, and eliminated corrupt, racist DEI operations from the federal government, pressuring other institutions and businesses to do the same.
But the tides have turned in recent weeks. Trump relented to some degree on the highly necessary immigration enforcement initiatives in fraud-riddled Minnesota. He announced he’s attending — for the first time — this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which only serves to legitimize the most manipulative, dishonest people in the country.
And, well, he just started an indefinite war in the Middle East, largely at the behest of Israel, which is one thing he said he’d never do. (By the way, you and I can’t say it was largely at the behest of Israel. Only Trump can. But he denies it.) On top of that, it looks like Trump is probably going to endorse Texas Sen. John Cornyn for reelection over his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, even though Cornyn has proven to be, at best, a typical lazy, mediocre RINO.
It’s all, in a word, demoralizing. This is not what we had in mind when we voted to Make America Great Again. What we had in mind was de-escalating international conflict, kicking out illegal aliens, and bringing down prices. Double orders of kicking out illegal aliens, if possible. It’s not that Trump isn’t doing those things; it’s that they’re taking a back seat to his newfound preference for reordering global affairs and designing a White House ballroom. There’s room for those things. All work and no play makes Trump a dull boy. But the big things aren’t done, and time is slipping away.
The good news is that it’s not too late. The midterms are still eight months from now, and all it takes is a little focus and the will to push Trump’s team and Republicans in Congress to do the work.
Republicans need to pass the SAVE America Act — the legislation enhancing election security. Trump should force them to do it and threaten to withhold his endorsement from every incumbent who won’t vote for it. They also, at a minimum, need to force Democrats to vote against bills that would continue bringing down the cost of living, making cities safer, and keeping out foreigners who are likely to become welfare dependents. They can also attempt to cement the bureaucracy cuts executed by DOGE into law.
For Trump’s part, he’s the businessman whose No. 1 strength was always the economy, though that strength is now in doubt as prices remain way too high. Promoting new free money giveaways isn’t going to work. He’s tried that multiple times already, and it’s dumb because years of free money is the whole reason prices are what they are today.
Trump can instead direct every federal agency to propose new initiatives that will incentivize more housing development, spur more energy production, and save more taxpayer money. That should be second to nothing on his daily agenda between now and November.
I’m not even going to refer to what “the polls” say. To borrow a cliché, there’s only one that matters, and that poll told us exactly what voters wanted out of Trump when they elected him for a second time in 2024. What they wanted isn’t what we’ve been seeing of late.
Eddie Scarry is the D.C. columnist at The Federalist and author of “Traitors: The Democrat Party’s Collapse into Anti-American Filth.”
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