All the signals are that President Donald J. Trump is preparing for a major war. No, I’m not referring to the next round of fighting in the Middle East conflict. Or even the war in Ukraine. I’m talking about the impending conflict between the Trump administration and the incoming Democratic Party majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.
Changes Afoot in the Trump Administration
President Donald Trump attends UFC 314 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
President Donald Trump attends UFC 314 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
After the Republican Party’s collapse in the Midterm Elections, Trump did what many in his base had been pleading for: fire the White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles.
But Trump isn’t selecting a more serious chief; he’s elevating one of the most controversial–hardline–members of his embattled administration: Stephen Miller.
Miller is a gonzo figure who has been a noted hardliner on immigration, on the Middle East conflict, and is seen as one of the key enablers for Trump’s worst instincts.
But Miller’s selection clearly indicates where Trump’s heart is going.
Trump intends to spend the next two years warring with the Democrats and fighting them on everything.
In fact, Trump is sending signals through his administration’s Attorney General, Todd Blanche, that any Democrat lawmaker who initiates an investigation into alleged corruption of the Trump administration (and family) will face a counter-investigation.
This doesn’t seem like a president or administration chastened by an historic Midterm defeat.
It looks more like the president and his remaining team are readying to wage endless war upon Trump’s preferred enemy: the Democratic Party.
Yet the president still has many issues to resolve.
The economy is in freefall as a direct result of his failed Middle East war. Speaking of which, the Islamic Republic of Iran has checkmated the president in the war.
He is now in a position where he escalates and drains the remaining critical stockpiles of US weapons–while not achieving a political victory over Iran–or he tries to land troops (which will end in disaster), or Trump does the unthinkable and drops a nuclear weapon on Iran.
The likely outcome of the war is a semi-frozen conflict punctuated by intermittent exchanges of limited attacks, until a more final diplomatic solution can be arranged.
Trump understands this, even if he doesn’t want to accept it.
But now that the Democrats have achieved such a victory and they appear to be coming hard for the administration, Trump seems interested in pivoting away from the Iran War (which he has clearly gotten bored with) to fight his domestic political foes.
But there’s something more going on than just Trump being bored with the inconclusive Iran War. He’s an 80-year-old, aging playboy billionaire.
The reality is that Trump doesn’t really need the presidency.
Of course, he likes the trappings of power.
But he’s already made an immense amount of money because of his time in the White House.
He’s secured some incredible gains for himself and his family (at the country’s expense, which is why the Democrats are looking to investigate him).
Democrats Already Going to War
Democrats are already issuing orders to various Trump administration offices, such as the Department of the Interior, to preserve records and prepare for the broadest investigation these agencies have seen in years. We’re talking Teapot Dome Scandal-level investigations, backbiting, and partisan warfare.
Unlike the first term, when Trump was subjected to constant investigations and vituperation from Democrats if he so much as sneezed, the president today will face a galvanized Democratic majority in the House and Senate, backed by the likelihood that this administration has committed very real crimes.
Beyond that, the Republicans are turning on Donald Trump because of the humiliating defeat as well as the failure of the Trump administration to accomplish almost anything that it had promised the voters it would accomplish back in the 2024 campaign.
The president’s approval rating is cratering to record lows–not just generally, but specifically among Republican voters.
As the new year progresses, given Trump’s desire to wage partisan warfare upon the Democrats–and the fact that the Democrats enjoy overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress–Trump will find the American people view him as obstructionist.
They will increase their support for the Democrats as the country speeds toward a real constitutional crisis, the likes of which have not been seen since Watergate.
All this will congeal to a moment in which the octogenarian playboy billionaire will be faced with a decision: continue fighting a losing battle against a galvanized Democratic majority, as Republicans increasingly turn their backs on him (save for the handful of dead-enders in that dying movement known as MAGA), or accept his fate, get a guaranteed pardon from his vice-president, and resign before the walls really do close in around Trump (and his family).
In a recent CBS News interview, Trump was reminded by Ross Douthat how much of an enchanted life that Donald Trump has lived.
Trump seemed momentarily taken aback by that claim. Perhaps this is too much interpretation, but it seemed like Trump was genuinely considering that he has everything to lose personally by continuing this charade known as his presidency, rather than walking off into the sunset and spinning elaborate tales of how much he won.
Trump Will Quit
This is why pundits, like Democratic strategist James Carville (and others), insist that Trump will inevitably–possibly as early as this upcoming Spring–resign from his office and lick his wounds down in Mar-a-Lago for his remaining days.
Democrats will get their win, but not fully, as Trump’s successor, JD Vance, gives Trump and his family an out through pardons.
That gives Republicans time to try to shake off the taint of the Trump presidency and let Vance prove he’s a worthwhile caretaker president.
Of course, that’s the rational option here. Trump could very well decide he will go down in a blaze of partisan glory.
But Trump will soon find that he has gone from being the most powerful man in the world to being a glorified prisoner of the Democratic majorities, kept in a gilded cage called the White House–as his closest advisers are either fired or jump the sinking Trump ship- as the Democrats bore their way through the administration and the Trump family’s finances.
That’s Donald Trump’s future.
That’s why I increasingly believe that, despite everything to the contrary, James Carville might be right. Trump will huff and puff, and when that doesn’t work, he’ll quit, leaving quite a mess for his vice president to clean up.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert is the Senior National Security Editor. He also manages The Weichert Brief on Substack. Weichert is the co-host of The Mario Nawfal Show on Twitter/X. He is the author of four bestselling national security books, most recently A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine (Encounter Books). His next book, Fortress Americas: A New Monroe Doctrine (Tucker Carlson Books), is due out December 8. Follow him via Twitter/X @WeTheBrandon.
