Susan Glasser

These people are going to start to get very scared for their political survival.

The ones who are in frontline districts or in competitive Senate races in 2026.

But they're going to care about things like the economy, which I could not believe.

Donald Trump's numbers on the economy are truly mind-blowingly bad right now, Tim.

You know, for a guy who

Arguably, that's what saved him from so many of the scandals and dysfunction and chaos of his first term was the perception that he was good for the economy.

Now, he's more underwater on the economy in his polls than he is on his overall approval rating.

You're absolutely right.

People do not vote on foreign policy and ask any member of Congress whether they want 2026 to be a foreign policy election.

And, you know, you know the answer to that.

A couple of thoughts.

First of all, it does underscore that Donald Trump is not on the ballot in 2026, and he tends not to care all that much about things that don't

you know, directly concern him.

And he's perfectly happy to cut loose Republican members of Congress if it doesn't fit with what he wants to do at the moment.

But it kind of underscores his impending lame duck status in that sense.

And there's a reason that second term presidents

like to focus on foreign policy.

They like to focus on legacy building.

Donald Trump, he's been out there musing about how he's not going to get into heaven and who can get me into the pearly gates.

So this is a guy, he's not raising the east wing of the White House and building himself a grand white marble palace in the sky if he didn't have a focus right now on his legacy in America.