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DOJ prosecutors prefer 'face-planting in court' to angering Trump: NYT Federal prosecutors in President Donald Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) are increasingly opting to embarrass themselves in court rather than risk the wrath of the White House. That's according to a Friday article by the New York Times' Glenn Thrush and Alan Feuer, who reported that the DOJ's recent string of public losses are seen as highly uncharacteristic of the federal government. One recent example is the DOJ failing to convince a grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), just one week after a separate grand jury in Norfolk, Virginia declined to return an indictment. "Federal grand juries almost never decline to bring an indictment once, much less twice. Such rejections, known as 'no true bills,' have been exceedingly rare, a misfire that often stigmatizes the prosecutors involved," Thrush and Feuer wrote. "They are becoming more common, and accepted, in a department where face-planting in court might be preferable to facing down the boss." The same day Trump's DOJ struck out with the Alexandria grand jury, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that detained Maryland man Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was to be freed immediately, saying the government had no "lawful authority" to keep him in custody. The Trump administration had threatened to send Abrego Garcia to Liberia and Costa Rica, though never followed through on those threats while keeping Abrego Garcia in custody for more than four months. Former U.S. Attorney John P. Fishwick told the Times that Trump had done himself no favors by aggressively publicizing his efforts to strike back at his political enemies via indictments, which may have soured the public against him. "I think many of these cases are nationalized for the public and there is a pushback on Trump and his targeting of individuals," Fishwick said. "This is a major shift." The failures to indict James and keep Abrego Garcia in detention are only the most recent examples. In Washington D.C., U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has consistently failed to get grand juries to return indictments of local residents, including a man who threw a Subway sandwich at federal agents. Prosecutors in Chicago, Illinois have also failed to get grand juries to indict Chicagoans arrested as part of the administration's "Operation: Midway Blitz." Click here to read the Times' report in its entirety (subscription required).

DOJ prosecutors prefer 'face-planting in court' to angering Trump: NYT

U.S. Lifts Sanctions Against Justice Alexandre de Moraes of Brazil The U.S. Treasury said that maintaining sanctions against Justice Alexandre de Moraes was no longer in the interests of the United States.

U.S. Lifts Sanctions Against Justice Alexandre de Moraes of Brazil

'Catastrophe': Trump economy kills 1 in 3 jobs in deep-red Nebraska town Residents of Lexington, Nebraska are panicking after the town's largest employer announced it would be shutting down operations early next year. MS NOW reported Friday from Lexington — the seat of Dawson County, Nebraska, which Trump easily carried with more than 74 percent of the vote last year. Meatpacking company Tyson employs 3,200 people in Lexington, though they will all be out of a job come January 20th, when the plant is shutting down. "Have you ever been in a place where you can just feel the pain and the anxiety? That's what it feels like being here in Lexington, Nebraska," MS NOW reporter Rosa Flores said. "... People have described to me what's happening here by using the words 'catastrophe,' 'crisis,' the feeling of being 'collateral damage,' 'hurt,' 'anxiety,' 'agony.'" Local business owners told Flores that sales started to plummet the moment Tyson announced it was closing the plant. Many business owners are immigrants who made the money to launch their businesses by working at the Tyson plant. "There's another business here to my left, down the street. That woman says that people have gone into her store sobbing," Flores said. "Her sales immediately dropped 10 to 20 percent right after the announcement." Reuters reported earlier this month that Tyson was closing the Lexington plant due to cattle supplies hitting a 75-year low in 2025. A small supply of cattle increases production costs for hamburgers and steaks. Cattle ranchers have seen dwindling herds due to drought reducing the supply of land capable of feeding cattle. Nebraska U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn, who is running against Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) next year as an independent, accused Tyson of manipulating the market by shuttering the plant. He asserted that Tyson was "destroying five percent of America’s beef processing capacity" given how much cattle gets processed annually at the Lexington plant. Watch the segment below: - YouTube www.youtube.com

'Catastrophe': Trump economy kills 1 in 3 jobs in deep-red Nebraska town

For Rubio the Cuba Hawk, the Road to Havana Runs Through Venezuela President Trump’s secretary of state and national security adviser has long sought to cripple or topple Cuba’s government, which has close security and economic ties to Venezuela.

For Rubio the Cuba Hawk, the Road to Havana Runs Through Venezuela

Trump Freshly Humiliated as Another of His Attorneys Resigns She announced her resignation on X amid Trump’s push to install loyalist prosecutors.

www.thedailybeast.com/trump-freshl...

House Republicans unveil healthcare plan, set up vote for next week House Republicans unveil a new healthcare proposal to address rising health insurance costs and extend ACA subsidies

House Republicans unveil healthcare plan, set up vote for next week

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Felon Trump’s move to dismantle the Dept. of Education isn’t about “efficiency.” It’s about stripping federal oversight, ending student protections, weakening public education while handing power to states & private interests.

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Republicans walking into 'historic buzzsaw' by defending hated Trump policy: conservative National Review senior writer Noah Rothman said Republicans appear to be resigned to “a drubbing in next year’s midterm elections” by blindly following President Donald Trump. Public opinion on Trump’s economy and his tariffs is crashing, “and that’s just the pro-Trump right,” warned Rothman, citing pro-Trump Republican National Committee chairman Joe Gruters. “There’s no sugarcoating it,” said Gruters. “It’s a pending, looming disaster heading our way.” But Rothman complained Gruters was acquiescent to that outcome, arguing “no matter what party is in power, they usually get crushed in the midterms.” “Gruters is wrong about that,” Rothman insisted. “The GOP’s fate is not written in the stars. The party in control of all the levers of power in Washington has agency and purpose — it is the master of its own destiny. Republicans are simply choosing not to do anything to better their political circumstances.” Rothman called the downward trend in the president’s numbers “consistent and alarming.” “And Republicans are alarmed. But that’s about it,” Rothman said. “If the sentiment abroad within the GOP ecosystem is any indication, that sense of trepidation is translating not into resolve but resignation.” While Trump has few tools to shape the economic landscape, Rothman said he could at least indicate that he has “heard the public’s disquiet and is attempting to meet them in the middle by abandoning his mulish affinity for tariffs.” “Even if he only telegraphed his willingness to pare most of them back, it would send a signal to the public that would at least boost consumer confidence. But Trump is not doing that. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine Trump giving up on a policy in which he evinces near-religious faith. So, with Trump presumably immovable, Republicans are sauntering languidly into a historic buzzsaw,” Rothman said. But it doesn’t have to be this way, he said. “Republicans are not destined for disaster. But so long as they regard the president’s bizarre predilections as forces of nature that they must make peace with, they will traipse into an electoral disaster that could set the tone for the remainder of the decade — handing the reins over to a Democratic Party that is increasingly favorably inclined toward socialism,” Rothman said. “What the GOP can do — what it must do — is evince some basic political survival instincts,” he continued. “If self-preservation is too much to ask, the GOP and its voters deserve the disaster that is now visible on the horizon.” Read Rothman's National Review article at this link (subscription required).

Republicans walking into 'historic buzzsaw' by defending hated Trump policy: conservative

TSA Is Providing Air Passenger Data to Immigration Agents for Deportation Effort The Transportation Security Administration is providing passenger lists to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to identify and detain travelers subject to deportation orders.

TSA Is Providing Air Passenger Data to Immigration Agents for Deportation Effort

Army charges gynecologist with secretly recording dozens of patients The Army is investigating Maj. Blaine McGraw’s gynecological work at two major military hospitals in Texas and Hawaii.

Army charges gynecologist with secretly recording dozens of patients

In Trump’s Justice Dept., Failing in Court Might Be Better Than Bucking the Boss Thursday demonstrated an emerging reality for President Trump: Commanding the Justice Department is not the same as controlling the justice system.

In Trump’s Justice Dept., Failing in Court Might Be Better Than Bucking the Boss

'It's a joke': Red state Trump voter slams president over 'gold fixtures' in White House Two years ago, voters at the Bawcomville, Louisiana “Redneck Christmas Parade” were hopeful about then-candidate Donald Trump campaigning to lower prices and fix the economy. CNN sent reporter Elle Reeve back to the town for an update on attitudes and got a mix of reactions. “To me, the tariffs that Trump started, I think is a joke,” said parade participant Tommy Wiltcher, joining a parade of four-wheelers adorned with rebel flags. “The American people are paying for it.” Reeves also said he did not approve of “the big ballroom up there and wanting to inlay it with all the gold fixtures,” and admits Trump lied about promising to bring prices down, saying “politicians promise the world when they want to get elected.” Nevertheless, Wiltcher said he still supports Trump. Parade reveler David Salvent said he also continues to support Trump, despite him falling short on multiple issues. “I'm not the biggest fan, but at least it's not Biden,” said Salvent. “I was just hoping for a little bit more personally, especially with like all the stuff happening with Epstein files and all that. That's got me really nervous as well … I really want it to come out. I mean, if he was there, I feel like we deserve to know that, especially if we don't want him in there. I mean, what Epstein did was horrible. That's really bad.” Participant Theresa DelRio said it was “still too early” to judge Trump’s work on the economy, but she was nervous about Trump’s violent crackdown on immigration. “I was watching the news last night, down in New Orleans, where the border control was active. And some of the things I didn't I was not comfortable with at all,” DelRio said. “… [T]hey fight hard for border control because the drug issue and things like that. But then I see some people that just seem so innocent. There was one particular girl who was born and raised here. And they chased her down the street into her house. That really upset me. They're citizens here that are being chased. And with the last name of DelRio, you know? Yeah. I don't want anybody chasing me down the road.” Still, DelRio said she gives Trump a “seven” on a scale of one-to-10. Other participants, like senior citizen Sandra LaCourse said she loves “the whole package.” “He opened up Christianity again,” LaCourse told Reeve. “Things were just … being not as free to be a Christian.” When asked, LaCourse called Trump’s deportation policy “harsh, but needed.” “There was some of the people who've been deported, weren't criminals. … Do you feel like that reflected Christian values?” asked Reeve. “Yes. It's a lot of prayer going on that he seeks wisdom and he tries.” Parade participants like Scotty Adams cheered Trump's policies despite high grocery prices. "We have some of the cheapest gas right now with the gas prices coming down lower, it should transfer over to food prices and other items eventually," Adams predicted. "I'm loving it." Watch the segment below: - YouTube youtu.be

'It's a joke': Red state Trump voter slams president over 'gold fixtures' in White House

Federal lawsuit demands Trump's ballroom construction be 'immediately halted' President Donald Trump has given a significant amount of attention during his second term to the construction of a massive ballroom at the White House, but now, per a report from NBC News, a new lawsuit might see the project "immediately halted." In order to make way for the ballroom, Trump directed that the entire East Wing of the White House, first built in 1902, be demolished. Images of the demolition being torn down sparked significant controversy about the destruction of a historic portion of the building, as well as attempts at legal pushback against the project. On Friday morning, the nonprofit organization National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that Trump was not legally allowed to alter portions of the White House so abruptly and with no review process. The suit called for the continuing construction project to be halted by a federal judge until certain conditions are met. “No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever—not President Trump, not President Biden, and not anyone else,” the suit argued. “And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in." "President Trump’s efforts to do so should be immediately halted, and work on the Ballroom Project should be paused until the Defendants complete the required reviews—reviews that should have taken place before the Defendants demolished the East Wing, and before they began construction of the Ballroom—and secure the necessary approvals.” As part of the lawsuit, the trust's attorneys argued that the Trump administration must have presented plans for the ballroom to Congress, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts for approval. Plans were not submitted to any of these entities before the demolition began. By doing so, the administration is accused of "depriving the public of its right to be informed and its opportunity to comment" on the ballroom project. "This public involvement, while important in all preservation matters, is particularly critical here, where the structure at issue is perhaps the most recognizable and historically significant building in the country," the lawsuit added. Trump has most recently estimated that the construction of the ballroom will take a year and a half to complete. He has also claimed without evidence that previous administrations have wanted to add a White House ballroom for at least 150 years.

Federal lawsuit demands Trump's ballroom construction be 'immediately halted'

Alvin Holsey, Admiral Who Oversaw Boat Strikes Off Venezuela’s Coast, Retires The admiral had abruptly announced that he would step down as the head of the U.S. Southern Command. His departure leaves several issues about the strikes unanswered.

Alvin Holsey, Admiral Who Oversaw Boat Strikes Off Venezuela’s Coast, Retires

Trump is the 'biggest security threat' facing America: Nobel economist Nobel laureate and professor of economics Paul Krugman is condemning President Donald Trump as “the biggest security threat facing the U.S. and, indeed, all the world’s democracies.” “According to Donald Trump,” Krugman wrote on Substack, “anything he doesn’t like is a threat to national security. Question his clearly illegal tariffs? You’re a dark and sinister force trying to undermine America. When the New York Times reported on signs that age may be taking a toll on Trump’s stamina, he denounced the reporting as ‘seditious, maybe even treasonous.'” Krugman charged that “Trump’s foreign policy is not about securing the safety and well-being of the United States” and lambasted the “betrayal of America’s security interests.” “Trump doesn’t care at all about national security,” Krugman declared, “or for that matter America’s national interests. Instead, it’s all about him.” He highlighted a report from Denmark’s military intelligence service that “contained the most explicit statement of the growing alarm. It pointed out that, under Donald Trump, America is no longer acting like a friendly partner.” It read: “The United States uses economic power, including threats of high tariffs, to enforce its will, and no longer rules out the use of military force, even against allies.” Other top U.S. allies, “including Canada and the UK, have reportedly acted to limit intelligence-sharing with the U.S.” He also noted that Canadians and Europeans are “alarmed” by “the presence of Putin sympathizers and conspiracy theorists like Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, in sensitive positions within the Trump administration.” And he pointed to the “fawning and borderline treasonous conversation” Trump’s de facto envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff, had with Putin’s foreign policy adviser, “in which Witkoff coached him on how to manipulate Trump.” Krugman noted that Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine “reads like a Russian wish list, but it also uses some odd phrasing and syntax suggesting that it was translated from a Russian original.” He asked, “who would want to share sensitive information with this American president?” And he concluded, “the biggest threats to U.S. national security aren’t coming from Beijing or Moscow. They’re coming straight out of the Oval Office.”

Trump is the 'biggest security threat' facing America: Nobel economist

Republican lawmakers tell Trump something he’s not used to hearing: No In a pair of nearly simultaneous votes this week in the Indiana legislature and in Congress, GOP lawmakers issued unusual displays of defiance.

Republican lawmakers tell Trump something he’s not used to hearing: No

DOJ sues Georgia county as Trump pushes debunked 2020 election fraud claims President Donald Trump has increasingly pressured his administration to find widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, despite those claims having been debunked and dismissed in dozens of cases by the courts.

DOJ sues Georgia county as Trump pushes debunked 2020 election fraud claims

Top military lawyer to be summoned in House boat strike inquiry Adm. Frank Bradley’s legal adviser has emerged as a key figure as members of Congress assess whether the killing of two men violated the law of armed conflict.

Top military lawyer to be summoned in House boat strike inquiry

Trump’s Long-Term Damage The things we won’t be able to fix even if we wanted to.

www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-long...

House Democrats release photos of Epstein with Trump, other public figures Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released more than a dozen photos showing the convicted sex offender and Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Steve Bannon and others.

House Democrats release photos of Epstein with Trump, other public figures

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Trump falsely claimed Portland was a “war zone”, attempting to justify his illegal order for soldiers to harass peaceful citizens.
Authoritarian playbook: create a crisis then claim that "he’s the only one who can fix it".

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Businesses Are Cashing In on Trump’s Tax Cuts Corporate tax revenue has quickly dipped since Republicans passed tax cuts this summer. But economists think these tax breaks might be worth it.

Businesses Are Cashing In on Trump’s Tax Cuts

'This is a blacklist': White House posts — and deletes — 'Naughty List' of journalists The White House appears to have tweeted then deleted a “Naughty List” of journalists, including top news reporters and outlets, in an act that is being described as “positively authoritarian” by one legal expert. The video was posted to X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and the White House’s own website, which reads: “MEDIA OFFENDERS ON THE NAUGHTY LIST,” and “Video unavailable. This video has been removed by the uploader.” A Google search of the White House’s page shows a video thumbnail consistent with the videos captured by several social media influencers. READ MORE: ‘Where Is Antifa Headquartered?’: FBI Official Struggles Defending Top Threat Label The video includes a Santa Claus chortling “ho ho ho,” and unrolling a scroll titled “Naughty List” that includes MS NOW reporters Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian, CNN’s Jake Tapper, and reporters from CBS News, Axios, and The Bulwark as well. The background music is “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” The video closes with the message, “Better luck next year,” then the screen reads: The White House President Donald J. Trump An AI generated trending page on X reads: “The 34-second clip, posted Thursday evening, showed photos of journalists pinned to a wall alongside names like The New York Times and The Washington Post. It disappeared from the official account within hours amid backlash comparing it to authoritarian blacklists. Supporters laughed it off as holiday humor, while the White House site already tracks similar outlets in an ‘Offender Hall of Shame’ for alleged bias. The episode highlighted ongoing tensions over media coverage during the Trump administration.” READ MORE: ‘You’re a Loser Dude’: Carville Scorches Trump as ‘Done’ “This is a blacklist,” wrote social media influencer The Maine Wonk, saying the video was “quickly deleted…after getting serious backlash.” “This isn’t a joke. It’s a blacklist,” warned another influencer, Brian Allen. “Authoritarians always start by mocking the press… then labeling them… then listing them. We’re now on step two. History has seen this movie before and it never ends well.” The Bulwark’s Tim Miller offered “Huge congrats” to one of the outlet’s reporters who appeared on the list, Adrian Carrasquillo, and commented, “(ooh we are really quaking in our boots on that one nerds).” ustin Kanew’s The Tennessee Holler called it a list “showing who is doing their jobs.” Professor of Law, MSNOW legal analyst, and former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance commented on the video, writing, “How positively…authoritarian.” — (@) READ MORE: ‘His Heart Just Ain’t in It’: Report Reveals Trump’s ‘Achilles Heel’

'This is a blacklist': White House posts — and deletes — 'Naughty List' of journalists

Delaware’s acting U.S. attorney resigns amid fight over Trump’s appointees Julianne Murray, an ex-chair of the Delaware Republican Party who the Justice Department appointed as interim U.S. attorney in the state, announced her departure.

Delaware’s acting U.S. attorney resigns amid fight over Trump’s appointees

National Trust sues to stop Trump’s ballroom construction The organization, which is charged by Congress with historic preservation, is seeking to halt construction on one of the president’s priorities.

National Trust sues to stop Trump’s ballroom construction

​How Trump's attempted 'power grab' ended in 'brutal and humiliating failure' In the United States' 2024 presidential election, Indiana was an even better state for Donald Trump than Texas. Trump defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris by around 13.5 percent in Texas, but he carried Indiana by roughly 19 percent. Given how much of a red state it is, Trump zeroed in on Indiana for an aggressive gerrymandering push. But MS NOW's Steve Benen, in his December 12 column, argues that Trump's Indiana "power grab" turned out to be a "humiliating failure" rather than the slam dunk he was expecting. "When Donald Trump looked at the Republican advantage in Indiana's state legislature," Benen explains, "the president probably felt a degree of optimism about his mid-decade redistricting scheme. After all, in the 50-member state Senate, there are only 10 Democrats. Success surely seemed inevitable. Over the summer, as the partisan gambit faced some resistance, Trump started pulling out the stops. GOP legislators were welcomed to the White House. He deployed Vice President JD Vance to Indiana to give Republicans the hard sell, in person, twice." Benen adds, "The president made repeated phone calls to specific legislators, hoping to persuade them to do his bidding. He published a seemingly endless stream of electoral threats and vituperative rants directed at GOP holdouts to his social media platform…. And yet, despite all of this, Trump's power grab flopped." The MS NOW columnist and "Rachel Maddow Show" producer notes that Trump's "arm twisting" for his "gerrymandering plan mustered just 19 votes." And a "majority of the Republicans" in the Indiana State Senate voted "with the Democratic minority against it." "It was one of the most brutal and humiliating failures of the president's second term," Benen observes. "Except, to hear Trump tell it, this fiasco wasn't that big of a deal. 'I wasn't working on it very hard,' the president said. 'I wasn't very much involved.' I wrote a book about Republicans trying to rewrite recent history, so I'm rather accustomed to this style of gaslighting. But even I couldn't help but laugh out loud watching Trump pretend he hadn't invested months of time, effort and resources into this debacle." Steve Benen's full MS NOW column is available at this link.

​How Trump's attempted 'power grab' ended in 'brutal and humiliating failure'

A Seized Oil Tanker Off Venezuela and the Big Business of Dark Fleet Smuggling The U.S. seizure of a vessel off Venezuela is likely to squeeze the country’s government, but do little to counter the tankers that secretively move oil from sanctioned countries.

A Seized Oil Tanker Off Venezuela and the Big Business of Dark Fleet Smuggling

Secret meetings between FBI and Ukraine negotiator spark concern FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, have met with Ukraine’s top delegate amid a U.S. pressure campaign on Kyiv to trade land for peace.

Secret meetings between FBI and Ukraine negotiator spark concern

MAGA 'bleeding numbers' as 2 key reasons spread disunity: insider President Donald Trump's MAGA movement might still seem strong on the surface, as former Republican columnist David French explained on Thursday, it's actually "bleeding numbers" and "pulling apart at the seams" if you look deeper, and there are two key reasons why. French is a former attorney and National Review commentator who currently works as a columnist for The New York Times. On Thursday, he appeared on The Bulwark Podcast to discuss one of his most recent pieces about the dissolution of the MAGA movement, titled "This Is What It Looks Like When Your Coalition Is Coming Apart at the Seams." During the discussion with host Tim Miller, French explained that Trump's political movement is falling apart despite the occasional appearance of success, as evidenced by recent blowout Democratic election wins. To explain this, he cited two reasons behind the dwindling voter support for the GOP: Trump's exit from the ballot and changing perceptions of Democrats. "The thing that has kept the Republicans together... was really two things," French explained. "One was a shared affection for Trump. I mean, nobody should say that virtually any Republican now is holding their nose to vote for Trump. Very, very few... So even the core normie Republicans like Donald Trump. So they had a shared affection for Trump, and [secondly] they had a shared antipathy against the left, specifically sort of the view that the Democratic party was far, far left." He continued, explaining that Trump no longer being on the ballot going forward and the increasing radicalisation of Republican politicians relative to Democrats are the key changes causing the MAGA coalition to be "bleeding numbers." "Well, two things are happening at once here," French said. "One is Trump's not on the ballot anymore. So that shared affection for Trump is not holding the coalition together as much. And then number two, the Democratic Party isn't the same party as it was in 2020, and the Republican Party is getting more extreme. And so the Democratic party has been moderating as the Republican party has been radicalising. And so a lot of that means that normie Republicans are now facing worse treatment and more vicious treatment from MAGA Republicans than they've ever experienced from Democrats. "And while you still have a coalition that's hanging together, you can see it's bleeding numbers. My goodness. I mean, did you see some of these election results from earlier this week? Just remarkable. And so I think what has happened is while a lot of the Republican disunity has been obscured by the continued affection of partisan Republicans for Trump, you go one layer below that, just one layer, and the whole thing is starting to pull apart at the seams. This coalition is not a stable coalition of people."

MAGA 'bleeding numbers' as 2 key reasons spread disunity: insider

Trump's 'grip' on the GOP is 'weaker' than at any other time: report President Donald Trump’s stranglehold on the GOP doesn’t appear to extend to Indiana, if Thursday’s events are any indication, writes CNN’s Aaron Black in a Friday column. That evening, the Indiana Senate, where Republicans hold a dominant majority, rejected Trump’s push to force a mid-decade redrawing of the state’s congressional map that would have eliminated its two Democratic-held seats. Trump seems to recognize the looming danger of the 2026 midterm elections for Republicans. Rather than promoting policies that appeal to most voters, he has leaned on GOP-led states to engineer maps that disenfranchise Democratic voters. However, Indiana Republicans refused to go along with the plan, despite an intense pressure campaign and threats of primary challenges from Trump allies. Blake wrote that Trump “chose very wrongly” and that his effort to reassert his “dominance over his party” backfired. "In the end, the situation in Indiana demonstrated quite the opposite of what Trump intended. Indeed, the state Senate’s rejection of his redistricting push wound up being one of the most significant GOP rebukes of Trump to date, and at a particularly inauspicious time for him," Blake said. The good part, Blake wrote, is that Trump's hold over the GOP "appears weaker than at virtually any other point in his two presidencies. Not weak, period, but weaker." Blake said it wasn’t just that Trump lost; the vote “didn’t wind up even being close.” Indeed, the measure failed 31–19. Trump couldn’t even win over a majority of Republican senators, with 21 GOP members voting against him. This came despite an all-out effort: the vice president made two trips to Indiana, Trump’s son visited, and House Speaker Mike Johnson weighed in, but none of it moved enough votes. "Perhaps most significantly, all this pressure manifested itself in a very ugly series of threats – threats that touched around one-fourth of state Senate Republicans, that we know of. (Law enforcement officials have not linked the threats to any group or campaign)," Blake added. The vote ended with Republican state Sen. Michael Young, who supported the redistricting measure, saying he expects most of his colleagues would no longer be in office in the future. “And that takes courage to give up your seat," he said. "And for Trump, it’s merely the latest signal that his grip on his party is softening," Blake closed. Read the full column here.

Trump's 'grip' on the GOP is 'weaker' than at any other time: report