WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to project political strength as he turns 80, but setbacks at home and abroad are exposing the limits of his power and pushing him toward the kind of lame-duck status he has told aides he is determined to avoid.
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This dynamic is unfolding just months ahead of November’s midterm elections as Trump’s Republican Party scrambles to maintain control of Congress. The loss of one or both chambers to opposition Democrats could hasten his slide into a lame-duck phase, historically when a president – if barred from running again – sees influence waning and domestic priorities stymied.
The White House is trying to prevent that narrative from taking hold prematurely and has been forceful about letting Republican lawmakers know Trump can still make or break them, according to a presidential adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal matters.
But with some Republicans already showing greater willingness to stand up to Trump, the adviser acknowledged it was inevitable that his authority would begin to diminish.
“He’ll naturally start to lose leverage, especially after the midterms,” the adviser said.
Trump has privately told staffers that one of the reasons he has mused about a third term, which is forbidden by the Constitution, is to ward off any public perception that he might become a lame duck and slip into “irrelevance,” according to a former senior aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said, “President Trump is the unequivocal leader of the Republican Party who is committed to maintaining Republicans’ majority in Congress.”
HEALTH UNDER SCRUTINY
The questions about Trump’s political standing come as scrutiny of his personal stamina is intensifying.
After a flurry of near-weekly travel early in the year, Trump has largely stayed at the White House or his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida since he launched the Iran war on February 28. He has made only a handful of domestic trips since then.
His public daily schedule consists largely of “executive time” and policy meetings held behind closed doors. He is often more visible on his Truth Social platform, where he posts throughout the day and late into the night.
A senior White House official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Trump was keen to avoid comparisons to Joe Biden, his Democratic predecessor who faced questions about his fitness for the job before leaving office at 82.
Even so, Trump has occasionally been caught on camera appearing to doze off at events, including at an NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden on Monday. As clips of him with his eyes shut have gone viral, Trump aides have fired back on social media, claiming he was blinking or listening intently.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle described Trump as “the sharpest and most accessible president in American history.”
A WEAKENING HAND
Analysts agree that even if Trump’s political influence wanes, he can still rely on executive orders to shape policy and act more freely on the world stage, where presidents have greater leeway to take action unilaterally.
Still, there have been signs of Trump’s weakening hand.
While he is not likely to see a full-scale Republican revolt, some defeated incumbents, who remain in office until January, have already begun opposing parts of his agenda and have also signalled pushback against his cabinet nominations.
And for the rest of Trump’s term, the world should expect the unexpected from a president who prides himself on unpredictability, said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University.
“His helter-skelter style of leadership, that’s not going anywhere, whether the Democrats take Congress or not,” he said.
Reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Nandita Bose; Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Andy Sullivan; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell