After a decade as GOP’s main character, Trump gets one more starring role at midterm convention

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For a decade, President Donald Trump has made himself his party’s main character — a singular force around whom its rallies, conventions and political identity have revolved.

Republicans are taking that devotion a step further this week, gathering in the Lone Star State at Trump’s behest for an unprecedented midterm convention conceived by him and to celebrate him. Trump will appear both nights of the event and watch from a suite as the loyalty from party leaders and allies is on display.

But hanging over what may be the party’s most overt Trumpfest yet is an increasingly unavoidable reality: It could also be one of the last.

In 55 days, voters will decide who controls Congress for the final two years of Trump’s presidency, with his unpopularity driving fierce headwinds against his party (and prompting some Republicans to skip the festivities in Dallas). Soon after, attention will inevitably begin shifting toward the Republicans jockeying to succeed him, while Trump faces for the first time a long countdown to leaving power.

“It’s hard to imagine politics without him,” said Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union. “But the reality is we’re going to have to figure that out.”

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GOP turns to Trump as Democrats expand their target map in midterm sprint

Walking into almost any major conservative gathering over the past 10 years meant stepping into a world saturated with Donald Trump. His name, his red hats, his image — they’re everywhere. His supporters line up for pictures with impersonators with his recognizable hair, some flashing Trump-branded sneakers and watches.

In 2021, a golden statue of Trump was wheeled into the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Artist Jon McNaughton has built a following with surreal depictions of Trump — as Atlas carrying the world, as a boxer knocking out Joe Biden, as the fifth face on Mount Rushmore. His work has become popular with Trump supporters and even caught the president’s eye. Now, McNaughton is beginning to consider what it will mean to portray Trump not as the sitting president but as a historical figure.

“For me, Trump will increasingly become an archetype in future paintings, much as I use Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy or Reagan to tell different parts of the American story,” McNaughton told CNN in an email. “Trump represents restoration and disruption — sometimes simultaneously. Viewers now and in the future can decide for themselves what those ideas mean.”

Trump himself has shown signs of contemplating the ticking clock.

He recently told New York Magazine that his building spree across Washington is motivated in part by a desire to leave a lasting mark on the capital because “nobody will do it once I’m gone.” At an event last month inside a General Motors testing facility, he imagined himself at home after leaving office, watching a successor take credit as manufacturing plants that broke ground during his presidency eventually come online.

“Will you please remember that I did it?” Trump asked the crowd.

His advisers have long understood that Trump will no longer be the center of his party’s attention as 2028 draws near. Trump has privately asked aides about how to navigate that period and avoid the pitfalls that accompany a lame-duck presidency, White House officials said.

“It’s why he has been so singularly focused on his legacy,” one of the officials said.

Not that anyone expects Trump to fade quietly from Republican politics.

He is expected to play a decisive role in choosing his successor , whether that’s Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio or someone else. And a president who turned America’s 250th celebration into a standard Trump rally and conjured a midterm convention into existence could find plenty of other reasons to summon Republicans for another gathering before — or after — leaves office.

Why Trump’s dream of an arch is his most revealing legacy play

“If Trump is different than every president we’ve ever had, thinking he’ll be a regular ol’ lame duck is wishful thinking,” said Doug Heye, a veteran GOP strategist.

Sean Spicer, Trump’s first White House press secretary, said he wouldn’t be surprised if Republicans continue to find ways to hold events for Trump to keep the base engaged.

“No one can get crowds like Trump does,” Spicer said. “If you can get Trump to continue to do them, then that’s a huge thing.”

But the political calendar will impose changes even Trump cannot prevent.

After the midterms, Republicans who harbor presidential ambitions will begin maneuvering for position, forcing the party to contemplate the future of Trump’s movement and the GOP’s direction once he’s gone. The next Republican National Convention will be the first since 2012 at which someone other than Trump is expected to accept the party’s nomination.

There have been glimpses of what that might look like.

For the first time in a decade, Trump didn’t attend this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference , also held in Dallas. Schlapp, whose organization puts on CPAC, said Trump’s absence initially disappointed attendees, but it ultimately gave him insight into what conservative events and grassroots activism might look like when Trump is no longer president.

“A lot of other dynamics were able to occur that weren’t able to when he’s there because he’s such a huge, dominating presence,” Schlapp said.

In the meantime, Trump has framed the midterms as an ultimatum for Republican officials and voters: rally around his presidency, or watch Democrats destroy it. The first advertisements from his political operation feature him, “the toughest, most resilient person,” as a narrator puts it. No other Republicans are mentioned.

He is expected to spend the next eight weeks touring the country, with 30-plus planned rallies in key battleground states and districts. MAGA inc., a Trump-aligned super PAC, had $400 million on hand last month, and the president made clear he will oversee how that money is spent. Earlier this month, the group disclosed it had purchased $10 million of advertising time in support of Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton.

The approach will test whether Trump can convince the voters who have reliably supported him in his elections and embraced his transformation of the party will also show up for him when he’s not on the ballot. It’s a gamble that is not without risk as his popularity continues to stall. His job approval is at 35% – close to where it was at the same point in his first term and significantly lower than most presidents historically.

Republican Party chairman Joe Gruters told CNN Trump “completely transformed what the Republican Party is” and regardless of the outcome in November, he expects Trump will be “front and center for a long time.” Whatever the polling suggests, Gruters argued his support from Republicans remains strong and they will be leaning into that in Dallas and all through the fall.

“When you’re in the bottom of the ninth inning and runners are on base and you’re down, you want your best possible batter up,” Gruters said, “and for us that’s the president of the United States.”

CNN’s Ariel Edwards-Levy contributed to this report.

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十年来，唐纳德·特朗普总统一直将自己塑造成该党的核心人物——一股独特的力量，该党的集会、大会和政治认同都围绕着他展开。

本周，共和党人将这种忠诚推向了新的高度，应特朗普的要求，齐聚孤星之州德克萨斯州，参加一场史无前例的中期选举大会。这场大会由特朗普构思，旨在庆祝他的成就。特朗普将在大会的两晚都出席，并在一个包厢内观看党内领导人和盟友们展现出的忠诚。

但笼罩在这场可能是该党迄今为止最公开的特朗普盛会之上的，是一个越来越无法回避的现实：这也可能是最后一场。

55天后，选民将决定谁将掌控国会，以完成特朗普总统任期的最后两年。特朗普的低支持率正给他的政党带来强劲的逆风（也促使一些共和党人缺席在达拉斯举行的庆祝活动）。此后不久，人们的注意力将不可避免地转向那些争夺特朗普继任者的共和党人，而特朗普也将首次面临漫长的卸任倒计时。

“很难想象没有他的政治会是什么样子，”美国保守联盟主席马特·施拉普说。“但现实是，我们必须想办法解决这个问题。”

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共和党转向特朗普，而民主党则在中期选举冲刺阶段扩大目标版图

过去十年里，几乎任何一场大型保守派集会都让人感觉置身于唐纳德·特朗普的世界。他的名字、他的红帽子、他的形象——无处不在。他的支持者们排队与模仿他标志性发型的演员合影，有些人还炫耀着印有特朗普标志的运动鞋和手表。

2021年，一尊特朗普的金色雕像被推入了保守派政治行动会议。

艺术家乔恩·麦克诺顿（Jon McNaughton）凭借其超现实主义的特朗普画像而声名鹊起——他笔下的特朗普可以是肩负世界的阿特拉斯，可以是击倒乔·拜登的拳击手，也可以是拉什莫尔山上的第五张人脸。他的作品深受特朗普支持者的喜爱，甚至引起了总统本人的注意。如今，麦克诺顿开始思考，如果将特朗普描绘成一位历史人物而非现任总统，又会是怎样一番景象。

“对我而言，特朗普将日益成为我未来画作中的一个原型，就像我用华盛顿、林肯、肯尼迪或里根来讲述美国故事的不同篇章一样，”麦克诺顿在给CNN的一封电子邮件中写道。“特朗普代表着复兴和颠覆——有时两者兼而有之。现在的观众和未来的观众都可以自行解读这些理念的意义。”

特朗普本人也表现出了对时间紧迫的担忧。

他最近告诉《纽约杂志》，他在华盛顿大兴土木的部分原因是希望在首都留下持久的印记，因为“我走了以后就没人会再做了”。上个月在通用汽车的一家测试工厂举行的一次活动中，他设想自己卸任后回到家乡，看着继任者在他任期内破土动工的制造工厂最终投产，并以此为荣。

“请你们记住，是我做的。”特朗普问人群。

他的顾问们早就明白，随着2028年大选临近，特朗普将不再是共和党关注的焦点。白宫官员表示，特朗普曾私下询问助手们如何度过这段时期，避免跛脚鸭总统任期内可能出现的种种陷阱。

“这就是为什么他一直如此专注于自己的政治遗产，”一位官员说道。

当然，没人指望特朗普会悄无声息地退出共和党政坛。

预计他将在选择继任者方面发挥决定性作用，无论是副总统万斯、国务卿卢比奥还是其他人选。一位将美国建国250周年庆典变成特朗普式集会、并炮制出中期选举大会的总统，很可能在卸任前后找到许多其他理由再次召集共和党人举行集会。

为什么特朗普的拱门梦想是他最具代表性的政治遗产

“如果特朗普与我们以往的每一位总统都不同，那么认为他会是一个普通的跛脚鸭总统就是一种一厢情愿的想法，”资深共和党策略师道格·海耶说道。

特朗普的第一任白宫新闻秘书肖恩·斯派塞表示，如果共和党人继续想方设法为特朗普举办活动以保持其支持者的热情，他不会感到惊讶。

斯派塞说：“没有人能像特朗普那样吸引人群。如果能让特朗普继续吸引人群，那将是一件非常了不起的事情。”

但政治日程的变化即便特朗普也无法阻止。

中期选举之后，那些怀有总统野心的共和党人将开始争夺席位，迫使该党思考特朗普运动的未来走向以及他卸任后共和党的发展方向。下一次共和党全国代表大会将是自2012年以来，首次出现除特朗普之外的候选人接受党内提名的情况。

我们已经瞥见了它可能的样子。

十年来，特朗普首次缺席了今年在达拉斯举行的保守派政治行动大会（CPAC）。CPAC的主办方施拉普表示，特朗普的缺席起初令与会者感到失望，但最终让他对特朗普卸任后保守派活动和基层行动主义的走向有了更清晰的认识。

“因为他的存在感太强，很多其他因素在他不在的时候都无法发挥作用，而他的离开让很多其他因素得以发挥作用，”施拉普说道。

与此同时，特朗普将中期选举定性为对共和党官员和选民的最后通牒：要么团结在他的总统任期内，要么眼睁睁看着民主党人摧毁它。他的竞选团队推出的首批广告以他为主角，旁白称他为“最强硬、最有韧性的人”。广告中没有提及其他共和党人。

预计他将在接下来的八周内进行全国巡回演讲，计划在关键摇摆州和选区举行30多场集会。与特朗普结盟的超级政治行动委员会“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）上个月拥有4亿美元的资金，总统明确表示他将监督这笔资金的使用。本月初，该组织披露已花费1000万美元购买广告时段，以支持德克萨斯州参议员候选人肯·帕克斯顿。

这种方法旨在检验特朗普能否说服那些在选举中始终支持他、并拥护他对共和党进行改革的选民，在他不再参选时也继续支持他。鉴于他的支持率持续下滑，这无疑是一场赌博。他的工作支持率目前为35%，与他第一任期同期水平相近，远低于历史上大多数总统的支持率。

共和党主席乔·格鲁特斯告诉CNN，特朗普“彻底改变了共和党”，无论11月大选结果如何，他预计特朗普都将“长期处于中心地位”。格鲁特斯认为，无论民调结果如何，特朗普在共和党人中的支持率依然强劲，他们将在达拉斯以及整个秋季继续巩固这一优势。

“当你在第九局下半局，垒上有跑者，而你落后时，你肯定希望派出你最好的击球手，”格鲁特斯说，“对我们来说，这个人就是美国总统。”

CNN的Ariel Edwards-Levy对本报道亦有贡献。