President Donald Trump's ability to sway the 2026 midterms has been evident in a recent series of GOP primaries, which found Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), and other incumbents losing to challengers Trump endorsed. But Republican primaries and the general election are two very different things, and according to Zeteo's Asawin Suebsaeng, Trump's "spiraling unpopularity" is making GOP insiders increasingly worried. "If you've been following the news for the first year and a half of the second Trump administration," Suebsaeng explains in Zeteo, "you've probably seen elite conservatives, otherwise so fast to sacrifice all oversight and leverage to their dear leader, occasionally pop up to finger-wag the president. Usually, this isn't for any particular moral or constitutional reason. It's because Republicans on Capitol Hill want to stay there and don't like that Trump's abysmal record and spiraling unpopularity are jeopardizing their job security."Suebsaeng continues, "This is why you've noticed such an uptick of notable Republicans coming out against the Trump Administration's $1.776 billion pot of taxpayer money, established to benefit the president's allies and (alleged!) criminal associates who claim Democrats or prosecutors were too mean."Many GOP lawmakers are fearful of offending Trump because they don't want to suffer the same fate as Cornyn, Massie or Cassidy. But they're also worried about the general election in November.The Trump administration's $1.7 billion "anti-weaponization fund," Suebsaeng stresses, is so unpopular that some Republican insiders see it as a major political liability for their party — especially in light of recent internal polling."Multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter tell me that in recent days, private polling has circulated among a number of prominent Republican organizations," Suebsaeng reports. "The non-public data shows that Trump's nearly $1.8 billion slush fund is resoundingly unpopular with most American voters, including much coveted independents."A GOP consultant, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told Suebsaeng, "This could really f–– us. Why do you think everyone's so upset?"A former Trump administration official, also quoted anonymously and described by Suebsaeng as someone "familiar with" that internal GOP polling, told the journalist, "You don't need a poll to tell you that this fund was a bad idea. Far too many Americans now view President Trump as corrupt, and that is going to be a significant hurdle for Republicans this year at a time when the voters want to be hearing about how you are making life easier and cheaper for them or how you're making the country safe — not about a f–– ballroom. This fund business just adds to that perception. And Donald Trump isn't the one whose name is on the ballot this year, so he's not going to be the one who really loses from his decisions or rhetoric."
