Rebuilding Republican priorities beyond Trump’s agenda

The Republican Party needs to begin distancing itself from Trump’s policies. A third term is not possible under the Constitution, and there are not enough votes to change the two-term presidential limit; any amendment would require a two-thirds supermajority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

An AI review of Republicans' growing break from Donald Trump follows.

"Iran War Opposition: Iowa Republican Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson broke with Trump to call for an immediate end to the conflict over soaring fuel prices.

Tariffs and trade: Swing-state Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) voted against Trump's broad-sweeping tariffs and unauthorized war powers.
Congressional power struggles: Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) publicly pushed back against executive funding freezes and bypassing the appropriations process.
Immigration enforcement: Florida GOP Rep. Maria Salazar released an ad criticizing Trump's harsh immigration crackdown for alienating Hispanic voters.

Campaign distance and spurned rallies

Avoiding campaign visits: multiple battleground House candidates have explicitly told Trump's team not to hold rallies in their districts.
Scrubbing mentions: candidates like Florida gubernatorial hopeful Byron Donalds removed explicit Trump references from campaign websites.
Ad strategy shifts: a vast majority of Republican campaign TV ads have omitted any mention of Trump as midterms approach.

Cross-party endorsements

Kansas Senate race: former Republican Governor Bill Graves endorsed the Democratic candidate over the GOP incumbent, slamming party silence on executive overreach.
High-Ppofile 2024 Holdouts: former Vice President Mike Pence and former Senator Mitt Romney previously opposed or withheld support from his broader national platform. "

Now Trump is losing a crucial part of the MAGA base. In a recent survey, sixty percent of white likely voters without a college degree, a critical part of Trump’s base, said that they disapproved of how he is handling the cost of living.

Between 2020 and 2024, Trump made double-digit gains with Hispanic voters nationwide, according to exit polls. But his ratings have fallen precipitously since then. In the latest NBC News poll, Latino voters disapproved of Trump by 2 to 1.

A recent poll from the nonpartisan Generation Lab shows that 58 percent of young Republicans say they’ll vote GOP—with nearly a third selecting “neither” or “won’t vote.” By contrast, 85 percent of young Democrats intend to show up for their party at the ballot box.

A key issue is the Iran war. The head of the International Energy Agency described the situation caused by the war as the "greatest global energy security challenge in history."¹ The conflict caused immediate volatility in energy markets, with Brent crude oil prices surging 10–13% to around $80–82 per barrel by 2 March 2026.² Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz³ disrupted 20% of global oil supplies and significant liquefied natural gas⁴ (LNG) volumes.⁵ Vessel transits have increased moderately but remain at 13 percent of the pre-war average of 135 daily transits.

As a result, US gasoline prices have increased 42 percent over the past 12 months to the current average of $4.45 per gallon. from the year-ago average of $3.14 per gallon.

Borrowing costs around the US and Europe surged recently as pressure from the Iran war energy shock on public finances intensified. Interest rates went up, increasing the cost of borrowing, including home mortgages.

This reset is obvious: get gasoline prices and borrowing costs down to previous levels. This probably implies ending the Iran war, with stricter compliance for congressional approval to declare war in the first place. Trump's disregard for his campaign promise to avoid war has irritated many.

Fuel costs for automobiles are only one of the elements of inflation impacting the consumer. U.S. grocery prices have risen by roughly 3% over the past year, driven by higher energy costs, supply chain pressures, and global conflicts. Coffee is up significantly (over 20%). Beef, veal, and ground beef remain elevated (up 15%-18% over the past year and a half).

In this context, the impacts of trade tariffs also must be considered. The Federal Reserve recently concluded that higher U.S. tariffs have significant negative effects on global GDP, reducing it by 0.8 percent in a broad tariff scenario. The U.S. and China face the largest economic losses. Trade tariffs tend to slow economic growth and increase prices. The reset is to limit the use of trade tariffs and employ them following the specific statutory processes managed by federal agencies and the executive branch under delegations of authority from Congress.

Another requirement is the full use of science and scientists in our government. The ample reliance on science would seem obviously necessary in an economy based on new technologies and innovation. Instead, the Trump administration has enacted sweeping rollbacks, funding disruptions, and oversight changes that target federal research agencies, academic grants, and scientific integrity policies. Proposed and enacted budget plans target key science and health agencies, including substantial cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and NASA’s science directorates. Even the scientific rules of programs like Head Start are being eliminated. The Republican Party should not be anti-science, and it wasn't before Trump.

A reset of Republican climate policy is appropriate. The policy of climate change negation also stems from an anti-science bias. Obviously, the Earth is warming. The US should protect its citizens from climate harm and limit future impacts. This involves global, national, and local initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to clean energy sources. Delay is damaging to all.

Other resets, such as those concerned with immigration, health care, and education, are in the making.

Republicans are increasingly breaking with Donald Trump ahead of the midterms due to policy disagreements, local political backlash, and sagging approval ratings. They are resetting their party. Donald Trump’s lame-duck era is beginning.