From the moment Donald Trump emerged from the 2024 election with a narrow victory over Kamala Harris and an even narrower congressional trifecta, he faced the classic dilemma of all second-term presidents: Do you cash in all your political capital to score policy accomplishments or instead help your party by pursuing cautious initiatives that could broaden its voter coalition and minimize the usual midterm losses?

This was a particularly fraught decision for Trump because his idea of “policy accomplishments” involved a vast expansion of presidential power, an inevitably controversial mass-deportation program, a return to protectionist economic strategies , and relentless threats of Mafia-style retribution against his enemies and critics. Given his incredibly high regard for his ow

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