White House aides have told the Wall Street Journal that President Donald Trump, 80, has been focusing more on his own historical legacy than on issues they said matter to American voters ahead of the midterms. Officials said he has been concentrating on projects he believes will better cement his place in American history.
A senior administration official told the paper that Trump has entered “legacy mode” and is “fixated on how he will be remembered by future generations.” Aides said Trump fears his presidency will be remembered similarly to “past occupants of the White House he views as weak, such as Jimmy Carter.”
Officials indicated Trump appears more interested in building that legacy than in improving the economy or ending what the report described as his war with Iran. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gingrich says Trump wants history to remember that his presidency mattered
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, described as a Trump confidant, told the Journal that Trump is “one of the handful of presidents who thinks on an entirely historic scale.” Gingrich said Trump is focused on how he is perceived.
“He wants to be consequential. He wants this to matter,” Gingrich said. “He wants to be the kind of president who people say, you know, it mattered that he was president.” Trump has also claimed he is among the greatest, and was quickly corrected by an interviewer.
Other Republicans want Trump to spend his time and the $400 million war chest his super-PAC has accumulated helping the party hold onto slim majorities in the House and Senate this fall, according to the report. Officials said his focus on those projects has been a problem for them.
Trump’s midterm plan is to run commercials highlighting his own perceived wins, the article said. That approach has reportedly rubbed some of his party-mates in Congress the wrong way, even as his approval rating was described as 10-plus points underwater in most polls.
The president still believes he is the GOP’s greatest asset, the report stated, despite those approval figures. Republicans rode Trump’s name at the top of the ticket in 2024 to win majorities in both chambers of Congress, the article said. An app greeting staff as greatest president has also reportedly been pushed onto government phones.
With his approval rating described as steadily dropping and inflation rising, Republicans fear they may not just lose the House in November, but possibly the Senate, too, according to the report. The article also cited examples such as renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America” as matters aides said most Americans do not appear to care about.
Published: Aug 30, 2026 02:00 pm