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<\/p>\nTrump is laying down an aggressive midterm strategy, and the GOP is gearing up to follow his lead with a new Republican National Committee chair.<\/p>\n
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Newsom channels Trump on social media in all-caps trolling posts<\/p>\n
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is mocking President Donald Trump in all-caps posts as their feud escalates over redistricting and 2028 political stakes.<\/p>\n
ATLANTA \u2014 The Georgia Suite sits on the 68th floor of this city’s towering Westin hotel downtown, with floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing skyscrapers and city views. From that high perch, the new chair of the Republican National Committee contemplated the high stakes of the 2026 election.<\/a><\/p>\n If Democrats win back control of Congress, Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s presidency \u201cis basically over,\u201d RNC Chair Joe Gruters, 48, an early Trump backer from Florida, told USA TODAY. Although Trump’s approval rating has fallen<\/a>, it’s still unclear whether Democrats can muster up enough support to re-take Congress.<\/p>\n Gruters and others are taking no chances.<\/p>\n He and the nation’s top Republican leaders have been fanning out across a cavernous Atlanta hotel this week, putting more meat on the bones for their next nationwide campaign plan. While Trump may be term-limited, the president is also right there working to ensure his party remains in power<\/a> and that Democrats don’t win subpoena power to launch investigations or try for a third impeachment against him.<\/p>\n Trump has urged GOP states to redistrict to create more Republican-leaning House seats. He has trumpeted a possible executive order<\/a> to curtail mail-in ballots. He is laying down an aggressive midterm strategy, and Republicans are gearing up to follow his lead.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president\u2019s committed to winning,\u201d Gruters said. \u201cThe party\u2019s committed to winning.”<\/p>\n Their early maneuvering has Democrats crying foul, while also trying to keep up as the 2026 chessboard rapidly gets rearranged.<\/p>\n “Trump has come to terms with the fact that he and his goons are going to get their (expletive) handed to them in the 2026 midterms, so they’re doing everything they can to rig the system,” Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder told USA TODAY as Republicans in his state advanced a new House map this week.<\/a> California Democrats then quickly moved forward with their own redrawn House map<\/a> to counter Texas.<\/p>\n RNC members at the party’s summer meeting told USA TODAY that Trump is right to push a rare mid-decade redistricting. They staunchly defended the president’s agenda in the face of polling showing aspects of it are unpopular, and they dug in on a full throttle MAGA midterm message led by the president\u2019s handpicked RNC chair.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a true believer that he is an agent of change,\u201d said Gruters, a former Florida GOP chair who co-chaired the president’s Florida campaign efforts in 2016.<\/p>\n Riding the Trump train into 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Republicans from across the country gathered at the downtown Westin for campaign strategy sessions, a pep talk from Vice President JD Vance<\/a> on Aug. 21 and to anoint Gruters as the new RNC chair on Aug. 22.<\/p>\n The confab brought blue state, red state and swing state GOP leaders together. They face different midterm equations, from the feasibility of redistricting to the level of competitive races, but were unified in one message: Trump is delivering on his promises, the party is fully behind his agenda and it\u2019s the Democrats who are extreme.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s nothing short of remarkable what the president has been able to accomplish in such a short time,\u201d said New Hampshire GOP National Committeewoman Mary Jane Beauregard.<\/p>\n Democrats say Trump has pushed radical policies and is a budding authoritarian.<\/p>\n The opening stretch of Trump\u2019s second term has pushed the limits of executive power as he works to overhaul the federal government, universities and leading cultural institutions. <\/a>It has been marked by a disruptive trade agenda<\/a>, punishment of perceived adversaries<\/a> and a massive deportation effort<\/a> that has been challenged by civil liberties advocates. \u00a0<\/p>\n Beauregard said the president\u2019s policies are \u201ccommon sense\u201d and will appeal to moderates, adding his record is \u201cgoing to help us in the midterms.\u201d She pointed to Trump\u2019s positions on immigration and transgender athletes.<\/p>\n Trump has emphasized cultural issues to portray Democrats as out of touch with voters, and RNC members said that will continue to be an effective strategy.<\/p>\n Michigan GOP Chair Jim Runestad said Trump\u2019s executive orders targeting \u201ca lot of this woke stuff\u201d have been a highlight of his second term and a record to run on.<\/p>\n Girding for battle<\/p>\n Runestad was meeting with RNC staff in Atlanta to game out everything from where to locate GOP campaign offices to voter outreach and data analysis.<\/p>\n Michigan has a number of competitive races that could help determine control of Congress. Trump carried the state<\/a> in 2024. Runestad said the challenge will be to get his voters to turn out for the midterms.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not saying that\u2019s going to be easy, that\u2019s going to be a yeoman\u2019s job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The party in power typically loses congressional seats in the midterms, but Trump\u2019s aggressive agenda is turbocharging the opposition, which sees an opportunity in his sagging poll numbers to at least win the House and check his presidency.<\/p>\n Florida model<\/p>\n