Donald Trump’s inner circle grew increasingly frustrated with the President before the midterm elections as voters turned against the war in Iran and he focused heavily on plans for a White House ballroom, according to a bombshell new report.
The Republican Party is reeling after an historic blue wave swept across the United States on Tuesday, with Democrats capturing both the House and Senate by substantial margins.
The blame game is already under way, with Trump pointing the finger at the candidates themselves. But a New York Times report says members of Trump’s midterm strategy team were privately frustrated with his approach.
Republican strategists reportedly believed Trump waited far too long to approve spending from his $400 million campaign war chest.
The funds, which Trump referred to as “my money” and which came from continued fundraising after the 2024 election, had still not been approved by August despite repeated efforts by Senate strategists to secure his sign-off.
One strategist said they were “shocked at how ill-prepared they were.” By the time Trump released the money, the GOP was forced to pay significantly higher advertising rates than Democrats, who had booked airtime much earlier.
An expert said that because liberal groups had secured advertising in advance, Trump’s super PAC paid four times more than leading Democratic super PACs and received 70 percent fewer ads for its money in Alaska alone.
The Trump-aligned super PAC paid $30,000 for an evening news advertisement that Democrats had reserved earlier for just $2,700.
Members of Donald Trump’s inner circle expressed frustration with the President’s focus heading into the midterms, candidate selection and poorly spent campaign funds
James Blair, the man tasked with running the President’s midterm strategy, was also behind the President’s ill-fated redistricting push
Advisers also saw Trump fluctuate dramatically in his personal interest in the campaign. On some days, he stressed that he would do “anything” to win the midterms.
On other days, however, Trump appeared more focused on his own popularity than on the candidates he had personally endorsed.
“It says something very nice about me that they just can’t win without me,” he told some aides.
The selection of candidates became another source of concern for Trump’s team.
Michael Whatley of North Carolina, Darline Graham of South Carolina and, in particular, Ken Paxton in Texas were viewed as deeply flawed choices.
“I have seen the enemy and it is us,” said James Blair, who was responsible for overseeing the President’s midterm strategy.
“In many places,” added Tony Fabrizio, the President’s chief pollster.
Throughout 2026, Trump pursued policies that insiders believed could ultimately hand the elections to Democrats.
Tony Fabrizio, the President’s top pollster, saw red flags regarding the Iran War in focus groups he conducted
Candidate selection was another aspect of the midterm strategy questioned by Trump’s team. Michael Whatley of North Carolina, Darline Graham of South Carolina, and especially Ken Paxton (pictured) in Texas were seen as brutal choices
One insider described the war in Iran as a major miscalculation on several fronts. Fabrizio conducted polling on the conflict, but the findings were largely disregarded by the President.
JD Vance negotiated a ceasefire in June, and polling found that voters favored the pause in fighting by 41 points. Sixty-seven percent also believed it could help reduce gas prices.
The truce was short-lived, however, and the Iran War continued into its ninth month. Hawkish Republicans such as Ted Cruz were blamed for encouraging Trump to maintain his support for the strikes.
In Fabrizio’s focus groups, voters said Trump had broken his promise to avoid foreign wars. They also said they did not understand why the United States was fighting in Iran.
Members of Trump’s powerful MAGA base told pollsters that ending the war and bringing inflation under control were the two steps he could take to bring them back to the polls.
Senior members of Trump’s staff also tried to persuade him to take a more moderate position on immigration, particularly after the ICE shootings in Minnesota earlier in the year.
The internal dispute was fought largely between Chief of Staff “Ice Queen” Susie Wiles and Stephen Miller, one of the architects of Trump’s immigration strategy.
Senior strategists believed the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti had transformed immigration from a political strength for Trump into a vulnerability.
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Fabrizio offered Trump an offramp in June when JD Vance (pictured) negotiated a ceasefire, which his polling showed was favored by 41 points with voters who knew about and 67 percent saw it as potentially lowering gas prices
Key members of Trump’s staff attempted to get him to moderate on immigration, particularly after the ICE shootings in Minnesota earlier in the year. The battle was largely fought over months between Chief of Staff ‘ice queen’ Susie Wiles (pictured) and Stephen Miller
The President allegedly asked one adviser: “If we never went into Iran, what do you think would happen in the midterms?”
Trump’s allies also believed his summer campaign to promote White House renovation projects was alienating voters.
Rather than concentrating on major political issues, Trump repeatedly highlighted plans for a new White House ballroom and his proposal to build a public golf course in Washington.
The $5,000 “Trump dividend” was unveiled at the GOP’s midterm convention without being shared in advance with most members of the President’s inner circle.
Blair was also accused of being responsible for another midterm setback: the redistricting strategy.
While working in the White House in 2025, Blair presented Trump with a plan to create more Republican-friendly districts in red states.
When shown the proposal, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reportedly responded with an expletive: “You’ve got to be f***ing kidding me.”
Democrats nevertheless avoided much of the impact of the redistricting effort by recruiting strong candidates in newly drawn districts and responding with maps of their own in California. Those efforts delivered the party five additional seats.
Trump consistently promoted the new White House Ballroom and his attempt to create a public golf course in Washington rather than focusing on key issues
During a private video call one week before the election, Blair appeared to anticipate defeat.
“I’m getting my affairs in order. I suggest everybody else do the same,” he said, later joking with Fabrizio that they might “get asylum in Israel” to avoid the Democratic lawfare he expected to follow.
Our News Outlet has contacted the White House for comment.
Hours after Democrats captured both chambers of Congress in one of the most punishing midterm defeats in modern political history, Trump called Fox News late Tuesday night and did something unusual: He praised his opponents.
“Democrats did a good job,” he said. “They fought hard.”
He told the Times that he was fully prepared to accept the result and would prefer working with Democrats on legislation to spending his final two years in office vetoing their bills.
By Wednesday morning, however, he was at the construction site of his new ballroom, answering questions with the detachment of someone discussing a problem that belonged to somebody else.
Trump again insisted he had not been on the ballot, despite urging voters to treat the election as a referendum on him. He also said he had no plans to make Cabinet changes because he believed the result had nothing to do with his administration.
Behind the confidence displayed at the ballroom site, however, Trump was making phone calls—and looking for someone to blame.
After GOP operatives began naming Wiles and even Secretary of State Marco Rubio as potential scapegoats, Trump appeared, after only a few hours of sleep, to focus on another target.
The President asked several close advisers whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should remain in his post, according to a White House insider familiar with the calls. Two other insiders confirmed the account to Our News Outlet.
The Vice President did not wait to weigh in, attributing the election defeat squarely to the Iran War in a statement Wednesday morning that stopped just short of blaming Trump himself.
Vance wrote: “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.”
Hegseth has not commented publicly since the midterm results were announced.
As of early Thursday morning, Democrats had secured 240 seats in the House of Representatives and 54 seats in the Senate.
Those totals are more than enough to give Democrats control of both chambers. Additional races were expected to be called for the party in the days ahead, including potentially shocking Senate victories in Mississippi and Alaska.
