Loyalty to President Donald Trump might not get you a lot as of late. His tariffs are bruising his wealthy buddies, and a few of his most loyal foot troopers in Congress have basically been instructed to cease dreaming huge.
Take Rep. Elise Stefanik. Axios reported on Thursday that Trump is attempting to clear the GOP main subject in New York so Stefanik can run for governor in opposition to Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul. To grease the wheels, he’s already endorsed two potential GOP-primary rivals—Rep. Mike Lawler and Nassau County Govt Bruce Blakeman—for reelection to their present posts, in a transparent try to nudge them out of the way in which so Stefanik can keep away from a probably damaging main.
In some methods, the entire thing is sort of unhappy. After Trump posted on Reality Social, principally telling Lawler to remain put, Stefanik dutifully reposted it, as if these two have been all however shouting, You’re nice proper the place you’re, not within the job Stefanik needs.
That is the basic Trump playbook: Transfer items, make guarantees, reduce individuals out, reward loyalty—typically. However this transfer reeks of a comfort prize.
Again in March, Trump abruptly pulled Stefanik’s nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations as Home Republicans contended with their razor-thin majority. In her place, Trump nominated former nationwide safety adviser Mike Waltz, the genius behind the “Signalgate” scandal, for the comfortable job and its flashy residence.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul
Now Stefanik, who gave up her management put up to be U.N. ambassador, finds herself again in Congress with little energy or platform. And her path ahead now rests on a dangerous gubernatorial run in a blue state.
Possibly she thinks the current rightward shift in elements of New York offers her a shot. And Hochul isn’t precisely beloved within the state, with 44% of the state’s voters having a good view of her and 43% having an unfavorable view, based on the most recent ballot from Siena Faculty.
However Democrats have been pulling off a string of upsets in elections since November, and the 2026 elections are shaping as much as be a troublesome yr for Republicans nationwide. Current historical past additionally isn’t in her favor: New York hasn’t elected a Republican governor in over 20 years. It’s potential that Stefanik, like Trump, is simply too deep into the MAGA haze to see how steep her odds actually are.
She’s laying the groundwork anyway—working the GOP circuit from Albany to Suffolk, headlining fundraisers, schmoozing at county picnics, and eyeing the race like somebody who wants an escape hatch. And might you blame her? Her fall has been swift. After clawing her manner up the Home GOP ranks, she’s now sidelined.
In the meantime, Trump has no situation treating his allies like disposable instruments. Simply ask former Cupboard members, his so-called buddies, and even Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who flirted with a Senate run in Georgia earlier than getting iced out. Loyalty within the MAGA world is predicted, not rewarded.
Axios floated that if Stefanik loses, Trump would possibly hand her one other job post-2026. So sure, there might be one more comfort prize ready within the wings. However that’s all she appears to get from this alliance: crumbs.
Stefanik tied herself to Trump, hoping the trip would result in energy and status. As a substitute, what she’s gotten to date is a shaky gubernatorial bid in a blue state, a demotion in Congress, and a front-row seat to the sluggish collapse of her occasion’s equipment.
Possibly she and Trump’s billionaire backers, who’ve additionally taken hits underneath his tariffs, can sit round and swap battle tales about the whole lot they’ve sacrificed—and the whole lot they by no means bought in return.
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