According to a WIRED report, President Trump has told aides he believes Republicans could still outperform expectations in November, but his inner circle privately concedes the political climate is dire. The report cites a Wall Street Journal poll putting Trump's approval at 37 percent — the lowest of any president heading into a midterm since such polling began in 1990. A longtime Trump operative who correctly predicted the 2024 battleground sweep told WIRED, “Oh, yeah, we're going to get creamed.”
To counter the headwinds, the White House has sought foreign policy wins, including a US-Denmark agreement on Greenland and an oil deal with Venezuela. But the report notes these moves may do little to shift voter attention from domestic concerns like record diesel prices and a $4.43 average gallon of gas. The Venezuela deal also faces legal hurdles over its 100-year concession, which conflicts with the country's national hydrocarbons law.
Meanwhile, the administration is already planning for a post-midterm legal fight. Sources say the White House expects Democrats to issue a wave of subpoenas and is preparing to assert executive privilege and attorney-client protections. The report highlights how Trump has converted personal lawyers into government lawyers — including Todd Blanche as attorney general and Will Scharf as White House counsel — creating overlapping layers of legal defense. The strategy draws on the 2024 Supreme Court ruling that shielded certain presidential deliberations from scrutiny, though aides acknowledge the coming battles could last years. The report is based on a single source, so no independent confirmation of these details is available.