Loyalty to President Donald Trump might not get you a lot nowadays. His tariffs are bruising his wealthy pals, and a few of his most loyal foot troopers in Congress have primarily been instructed to cease dreaming large.
Take Rep. Elise Stefanik. Axios reported on Thursday that Trump is making an attempt to clear the GOP main discipline 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 Government 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 type of unhappy. After Trump posted on Fact 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.
Now Stefanik, who gave up her management publish 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.
Perhaps she thinks the latest rightward shift in components 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, in accordance with the newest ballot from Siena School.
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 tricky yr for Republicans nationwide. Latest 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 may you blame her? Her fall has been swift. After clawing her means up the Home GOP ranks, she’s now sidelined.
In the meantime, Trump has no difficulty treating his allies like disposable instruments. Simply ask former Cupboard members, his so-called pals, 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 anticipated, not rewarded.
Axios floated that if Stefanik loses, Trump may hand her one other job post-2026. So sure, there may very well 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 journey 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 gradual collapse of her get together’s equipment.
Perhaps she and Trump’s billionaire backers, who’ve additionally taken hits underneath his tariffs, can sit round and swap conflict tales about every thing they’ve sacrificed—and every thing they by no means received in return.
