Donald Trump Has Lost Control of the Monster He Created

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The gold leaf accents on Donald Trump’s political brand appear to have lost their luster.

At the height of his influence entering the 2022 GOP primaries, Trump has sought to shape the Republican Party in his image, his endorsement of the competitive race ultimately coming to define who conservative voters support and who. they didn’t.

One of his endorsers is Kevin McCarthy, the ambitious California congressman who, shortly after the January 6 riots at the US Capitol, traveled to Mar-a-Lago to extend an olive branch after when criticizing Trump.

The following summer, Trump responded with his endorsement of McCarthy, calling him a “strong and fearless” leader for the GOP of the future.

Former President Donald Trump, flanked by Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert and Florida Representative Matt Gaetz. Boebert and Gaetz voted against Kevin McCarthy for House speaker, even after Trump endorsed the California Republican. Image Photo by Newsweek/Getty Images

After McCarthy suffered three consecutive ballot losses by his colleagues to begin the 118th Congress on January 3, Trump—apparently—was no longer sure: In an interview Tuesday with NBC News’ Garrett Haake, Trump refused to responded to a specific question about whether he supported McCarthy, saying only that “we’ll see what happens” when pressed.

On Wednesday morning, Trump stuck by McCarthy. In a post on Truth Social, Trump urged Republicans to “NEVER BE A GREAT VICTORY IN A VENGEOUS AND HUMILIATING DEFEAT.”

“IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT,” she wrote. “Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe a GREAT JOB – JUST WATCH!”

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump declined to say whether he stands by his endorsement of Kevin McCarthy for speaker tonight, telling me in a brief phone interview that he has called throughout the day asking for support, and ” We’ll see what happens. We’ll see how it all works out.”

— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) January 3, 2023

Within hours, the dynamics were out of his hands.

In the fourth round of voting, 21 of the 223 Republican members of the House refused to support McCarthy, with many saying he was too moderate, too entrenched in the Washington establishment, and too willing to capitulate to Democrats while he is seeking to govern against a Democratic-led Senate and a Democratic White House.

Some of Trump’s most ardent supporters in Congress—longtime anti-establishment figures like Matt Gaetz, Byron Donalds, Chip Roy, Ralph Norman and Lauren Boebert—turned away from him, slamming Trump’s pick on the House floor as a figure of the Washington, DC, swamp that Trump once vowed to destroy.

“Even my favorite president called us and told us we have to knock this down,” Boebert said on the House floor Wednesday before the fifth round of voting. “I think it really needs to be reversed. The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that, sir, you don’t have the votes, and it’s time to withdraw.”

Boebert revealed that Trump called him to fire him but he said no to my favorite president

The Mar-a-Lago factor so far has not persuaded the Trumpiest Trumpists to back down

— Susan Glasser (@sbg1) January 4, 2023

Trump’s office has been contacted for comment.

While his success as a candidate has long relied on the support of those outside the Beltway, his personal brand outside of DC hasn’t fared much better—especially if others have succeeded in rattling off those cage more than him.

Where an invitation to Mar-a-Lago was once the equivalent of a winning lottery ticket, the Florida mansion has—in the months since the Republican primaries—become a circus of far-right fringe figures, with recent guest list featuring losers. Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, former North Carolina Congresswoman Madison Cawthorn and white nationalist Nick Fuentes along with longtime Trump sycophants like Rudy Giuliani, the disgraced former mayor of New York City.

During the announcement of his third campaign for president, reporters wrote about attendees they saw heading to the exits who were not allowed to leave, while the campaign itself seemed to lack energy, marked by digital trading cards that poor design and lack of types. of rallies that have come to define the closing months of the 2022 midterms.

Even some of his children, whose names are connected to their father’s, have increasingly sought to distance themselves from the Trump brand for other ventures, as the company he founded has been mired in many criminal cases in New York.

“While I will always love and support my father, moving forward I will do so outside the political arena,” his daughter Ivanka said in a statement after his announcement.

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