Fears of a post-midterms Trump rampage spur ‘brutal’ internal jockeying

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President Donald Trump still has two weeks to salvage his Republican congressional majorities and defy expectations of a midterm wipeout . But all around him, aides and allies are bracing for what happens if he fails.

Administration officials have grown increasingly convinced that steep GOP losses will trigger major personnel shakeups across the government, as Trump hunts for aides to blame and dozens of others weigh abandoning a lame duck presidency at its lowest point.

The angst has turned a White House that once prided itself on single-minded cohesion into the nerve center for a resurgence of Trump world infighting and leaking, said several administration officials, advisers and close allies, who described a toxic mix of jockeying for power and preemptive finger-pointing in the critical final days leading up to November.

“It’s more brutal than any other situation in modern times in the White House,” said one Trump ally. “You can’t trust anybody here.”

The extraordinary jousting within the administration and throughout Trump’s wider circle has broken into public view on several occasions in just the past two weeks, deepening the atmosphere of mistrust and stoking Trump’s own frustrations with the advisers around him.

Trump ousted Kimberly Guilfoyle, his ambassador to Greece and his son’s former fiancée, after a series of damaging reports prompted by a GOP donor’s disclosure that she’d asked him for $100,000 to pay off her credit card. The president also ordered his White House counsel to investigate a running dispute between two close allies, Alina Habba Mildon and Ric Grenell, over allegations that millions of dollars meant for the Kennedy Center were misallocated, according to a source familiar with the matter (Axios first reported on the investigation ).

And Trump fired his new press secretary, Katie Zacharia , after just five days amid several missteps and near-universal backlash to her performance — even among close allies.

Amid those crises, some of Trump’s closest aides — chief of staff Susie Wiles and outside political advisers James Blair and Chris LaCivita — have faced unflattering coverage that sparked questions about their standing within the president’s inner circle.

Their defenders, in turn, contended the stories were being driven by rivals seeking to improve their own relationships with Trump. Blair has since traveled twice with Trump on Air Force One in the past week, in a sign the president still has faith in his core team.

“A knife to James or Chris is meant for Susie,” one source familiar with the dynamics said.

The striking run of incidents has prompted competing efforts across Trump world to smoke out who is leaking against whom and to what end, two people familiar with the matter said. There’s now speculation across the administration over who around Trump will take the fall if the midterms go poorly, which senior officials will be fired and how many aides might opt to leave in the aftermath, those people said.

“If we lose both the House and the Senate, there’s really no telling what happens,” one Trump adviser told CNN. “Everyone is fair game.”

In a statement, White House spokesman Davis Ingle dismissed any focus on the administration’s internal dynamics as “baseless speculation.”

“President Trump is laser-focused on maintaining Republican majorities in Congress this November, which is why he is traveling across the country highlighting the historic victories his Administration has delivered for the American people,” he said.

Still, in a sign of the intense maneuvering, Wiles faced a rush of scrutiny after it became clear she wasn’t present when Trump offered Zacharia the press secretary job. Some interpreted the incident as a sign of weakening authority and an opening to push her out of a job that’s allowed her to wield sweeping power, two Trump advisers said.

There was chatter that Wiles might soon step down, especially after a monthslong bout with cancer and as she approaches a two-year mark where many top White House aides traditionally choose to depart. Trump had four chiefs of staff during his first term and none stayed in the job for two years.

But she has not signaled any plans to leave, and Trump recently issued a full-throated vote of confidence, insisting there’s “zero chance” he’d replace her .

“She’s not going anywhere,” a senior administration official said of Wiles.

The election outcome is also expected to determine whether several Cabinet secretaries leave their posts rather than face the prospect of months of investigations from newly empowered Democrats. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is expected to be an early target for congressional Democrats, has long battled speculation that he may end up on the hot seat. But Trump has repeatedly defended his zealous, made-for-TV secretary.

Some officials have also speculated that Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who has been charged with managing some of the most damaging economic fallout of the war with Iran, might opt to leave the administration to pursue a more lucrative job in the energy sector.

Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement that Hegseth wasn’t focused on “fake news or DC noise.” An Energy Department spokesperson denied that Wright was contemplating leaving and said he would remain in the job “as long as the president wants him to serve.”

Others, meanwhile, are preparing for the prospect of extensive post-election score settling from Trump or his close allies. Allies of Jay Bhattacharya, the head of the National Institutes of Health, have expressed fear that he could be among those most at risk of being fired following a high-profile clash with White House budget chief Russ Vought over control of his agency’s grant spending, two people familiar with the matter said.

The NIH declined to comment, though one person familiar with the dynamics said officials have improved the working relationship between NIH and Vought’s agency in recent weeks.

A White House official said Trump and his team are focused solely on the midterms.

Administrations traditionally face some level of turnover following the midterms, which simultaneously serve as a natural exit point for many senior officials and an opportunity for the president to reset priorities ahead of the final two years of his term.

But within this administration, where power is measured chiefly by one’s proximity to Trump and allegiances are ever-changing, any fresh vacancies could dramatically shift the balance of power within the White House and alter the trajectory of its agenda.

Trump has not yet given any overt indications that he plans to make personnel changes after the elections, according to people who have spoken with him. And he has expressed optimism that his recent travel blitz on behalf of GOP candidates is having a positive impact on the party’s odds of holding control of Congress.

But many of Trump’s aides and advisers remain grim about their chances. The GOP’s House majority, they believe, is likely lost, and at this point the mission is more focused on limiting the scale of those losses.

While Trump advisers still believe they can hold the Senate, there is broad consternation that the combination of voter backlash against the administration and a handful of poor Senate campaigns has made the effort far more difficult than normal.

It’s a challenge that even Trump has privately acknowledged at times, according to the people who have spoken with him. He’s questioned why the political landscape for the GOP is so poor and vented about the party’s political strategy.

Should Republicans suffer extensive losses on November 3, those people added, Trump is certain to find someone to blame — and it won’t be him.

“The president always loses, for whatever reason, the midterms,” Trump lamented on Tuesday. “If I can get my voters, MAGA Republicans, whatever you want to call (them), if they get out to vote, we’ll win in a landslide. But they have to want to get out to vote, and if you’re not on the ballot, it’s a little harder.”

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唐纳德·特朗普总统还有两周时间来挽救共和党在国会的多数席位，并扭转中期选举惨败的局面。但他的助手和盟友们都在为他失败后的局面做准备。

政府官员越来越确信，共和党的惨败将引发政府各部门的重大人事变动，因为特朗普正在寻找可以指责的助手，而其他数十人则在考虑放弃即将卸任的总统职位，此时特朗普的总统任期已跌至谷底。

多位政府官员、顾问和亲密盟友表示，这种焦虑情绪使曾经以团结一致而自豪的白宫变成了特朗普阵营内斗和泄密的神经中枢。他们描述了在11月大选前的关键最后几天里，权力争夺和先发制人的互相指责交织在一起的有害局面。

一位特朗普的盟友说：“这比近代以来白宫发生的任何其他情况都更加残酷。在这里，你谁都不能相信。”

在过去两周内，政府内部以及特朗普更广泛的圈子中发生的非同寻常的争斗多次公开化，加深了不信任的气氛，并加剧了特朗普对身边顾问的不满。

在一位共和党捐款人披露金伯利·吉尔福伊尔曾向特朗普索要10万美元用于偿还信用卡欠款后，一系列不利报道曝光，特朗普随即解除了吉尔福伊尔的职务。吉尔福伊尔是特朗普驻希腊大使，也是他儿子的前未婚妻。据一位知情人士透露，特朗普还下令白宫法律顾问调查其两位亲密盟友阿丽娜·哈巴·米尔顿和里克·格雷内尔之间持续不断的纠纷，起因是他们指控肯尼迪中心数百万美元的资金被挪用（Axios网站率先报道了这项调查）。

特朗普在新闻秘书凯蒂·扎卡里亚上任仅五天后便将其解雇，原因是她犯了几个错误，而且她的表现几乎遭到了所有人的强烈反对——甚至包括亲密盟友。

在这些危机中，特朗普的一些最亲密的助手——幕僚长苏西·威尔斯和外部政治顾问詹姆斯·布莱尔和克里斯·拉西维塔——面临着不利的报道，引发了人们对他们在总统核心圈子中地位的质疑。

他们的支持者则辩称，这些报道是竞争对手为了改善与特朗普的关系而炮制的。布莱尔在过去一周内两次与特朗普一同乘坐空军一号出行，这表明总统仍然信任他的核心团队。

一位熟悉内情的消息人士称：“对詹姆斯或克里斯动刀其实是为了苏西。”

两位知情人士透露，这一系列令人震惊的事件引发了特朗普阵营内部的激烈争论，各方都在试图找出是谁在泄密，以及泄密的目的。他们还表示，目前政府内部都在猜测，如果中期选举结果不佳，特朗普身边谁会成为替罪羊，哪些高级官员会被解雇，以及会有多少助手会在选举后选择离职。

一位特朗普顾问告诉CNN：“如果我们同时失去众议院和参议院，真的很难说会发生什么。所有人都有可能成为攻击目标。”

白宫发言人戴维斯·英格尔在一份声明中驳斥了任何关注政府内部动态的说法，称其为“毫无根据的猜测”。

他说：“特朗普总统正全力以赴确保共和党在今年11月继续在国会保持多数席位，因此他正在全国各地奔走，强调他的政府为美国人民取得的历史性胜利。”

然而，威尔斯在特朗普向扎卡里亚提出新闻秘书一职时不在场，这一事实表明，当时各方都在进行激烈的权力斗争。两位特朗普的顾问表示，一些人将此事解读为威尔斯权威削弱的迹象，并认为这是将她赶下台的契机，因为这份工作赋予了她广泛的权力。

有传言称威尔斯可能很快会卸任，尤其是在她与癌症抗争数月之后，而且她即将迎来任期两年的里程碑——许多白宫高级幕僚通常会在这个阶段选择离任。特朗普在第一任期内更换了四位白宫幕僚长，没有一位任期超过两年。

但她并未表示有任何离职计划，而特朗普最近也对她投了全力的信任票，坚称他“绝无可能”会撤换她。

一位高级政府官员谈到威尔斯时说：“她哪儿也不会去。”

此次选举结果预计还将决定几位内阁部长是否会选择离职，以避免面临新近掌权的民主党人长达数月的调查。国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯预计将成为国会民主党人的首要目标，他长期以来一直努力应对可能被撤职的猜测。但特朗普一再为这位热情洋溢、极具电视形象的部长辩护。

一些官员还猜测，负责应对伊朗战争带来的一些最具破坏性的经济后果的能源部长克里斯·赖特可能会选择离开政府，去能源领域寻求一份收入更高的工作。

五角大楼首席发言人肖恩·帕内尔在一份声明中表示，赫格塞斯并不关注“假新闻或华盛顿的噪音”。能源部发言人否认赖特正在考虑离职，并表示只要总统需要他继续任职，他就会留任。

与此同时，另一些人则在为特朗普或其亲信在大选后可能展开的大规模报复行动做准备。据两位知情人士透露，美国国立卫生研究院院长杰伊·巴塔查里亚的盟友担心，在与白宫预算主管拉斯·沃特就该机构拨款支出控制权发生激烈冲突后，他很可能成为最有可能被解雇的人之一。

美国国立卫生研究院拒绝置评，但一位知情人士表示，最近几周，美国国立卫生研究院与沃特的机构之间的工作关系有所改善。

一位白宫官员表示，特朗普及其团队目前只专注于中期选举。

历届政府在中期选举后都会面临一定程度的人员更迭，这既是许多高级官员的自然离任点，也是总统在任期最后两年之前重新调整工作重点的机会。

但在本届政府中，权力主要取决于与特朗普的亲近程度，而且忠诚度瞬息万变，任何新的职位空缺都可能极大地改变白宫的权力平衡，并改变其议程的走向。

据与特朗普交谈过的人士透露，特朗普尚未公开表示他计划在大选后进行人事变动。他还表示乐观，认为他近期为共和党候选人奔走各地的宣传活动正在对该党保住国会控制权的几率产生积极影响。

但特朗普的许多助手和顾问仍然对胜算感到悲观。他们认为，共和党在众议院的多数席位很可能已经失去，而目前的首要任务是尽可能减少损失。

尽管特朗普的顾问们仍然相信他们能够保住参议院，但人们普遍感到担忧的是，选民对本届政府的强烈反对以及少数几场糟糕的参议院竞选，使得保住参议院比往常更加困难。

据与特朗普交谈过的人士透露，就连特朗普本人有时也私下承认这一挑战。他质疑共和党的政治形势为何如此糟糕，并对该党的政治策略表达了不满。

这些人还补充说，如果共和党在11月3日遭遇重大失败，特朗普肯定会找到替罪羊——而那个人肯定不会是他自己。

“不管什么原因，总统总是输掉中期选举，”特朗普周二抱怨道。“如果我的选民，那些‘让美国再次伟大’的共和党人，或者随便你怎么称呼他们，都出来投票，我们就能大获全胜。但他们必须想出来投票，如果你不在选票上，那就有点难了。”