Trump Needs a Supply-Side Solution
Republicans seem headed for a historic wipeout. Why not go for a historic economic boom instead?
By Matthew Hennessey
I’m not a Republican strategist, but if I were, I’d spend the holidays ruminating on what the political world will look like for my party after Jan. 3, 2027.
That’s when the most successful national Republican in decades—who also happens to be the most polarizing and self-defeating figure in American politics—may lose his congressional majorities.
If it happens, the reason will be the obvious one: The erratic president’s unpopularity will drag Republicans at every level down, like it did in Virginia and New Jersey this month.
Nobody denies that Mr. Trump has a special relationship with voters.
But when he isn’t on the ballot, as Tim Carney argued recently, “the Trump era is a story of GOP loss.”
While Mr. Trump enjoys stoking Democratic anxiety about the possibility of a third term, he won’t be on the ballot in 2028.
Some Republicans seem to think that the coming years are best spent weighing the merits of his presumed successors.
Voters already have fairly well-formed opinions of Marco Rubio and JD Vance.
Measuring their heads for the big red MAGA hat isn’t a strategy for victory.
Neither man is a shoo-in against a Democrat with a motivated and aggravated party behind him.
Here’s a question: What motivates or aggravates Republicans?
Mr. Trump’s second term got off to an exciting start, powered by a slightly unconventional mandate to ram a stake in the heart of woke-era identity politics and put inflation back in the bottle.
But that mandate now feels as if it has run out of steam.
The Trump administration’s priorities at the moment are . . . well, you tell me.
Foreign policy is a strength, but it’s rare that American elections swing on overseas issues.
Most voters worry about what’s closest to home: work, school, prices, taxes, crime.
Things aren’t going Republicans’ way. Inflation is hanging around.
Growth is fair to middling.
Americans are happy that the border is closed, but they don’t like seeing masked immigration agents dragging hardworking family men out of Home Depot parking lots.
Contrary to Mr. Trump’s famous promise, you don’t hear many people saying they’re tired of all the winning.
According to the Real Clear Politics polling average, nearly 6 in 10 Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction.
That’s a recipe for a GOP wipeout in November 2026.
If current trends continue—although given the left’s penchant for insanity, that’s no guarantee—expect a Democratic return to the White House in 2029.
So what are Republicans going to do about it?
What can Mr. Trump do?
He can start acting like a traditional, pro-growth Republican.
Pivot to the party’s historic supply-side strength.
Ditch the populist mumbo jumbo about tariffs, subsidies and redistribution.
Stop trying to jawbone the Fed on interest rates. Americans don’t want welfare.
They’ve never wanted it.
They want to work and take care of their families.
And they’re smart enough to know that having everything in their shopping carts say Made in the USA isn’t necessarily a good deal.
Voters—that is, adults—want a growing economy that keeps inflation at bay and creates opportunities for work and investment.
That’s all they’ve ever wanted from Washington.
Republicans across the country should focus on shrinking the government and promoting economic dynamism.
Instead of trying to buy voters with mailbox money, let people keep more of their weekly paychecks.
The brain trust at Bedminster can spend the next few weeks lying to themselves about how wrong the polls are and how much voters secretly support the MAGA agenda.
Or they can sketch out a concrete plan to deregulate, detariff, cut spending, lower taxes and drill, baby, drill to bring down energy prices.
With that approach, Republicans could turn their drifting ship around.
They might even find themselves running into 2028 with the wind at their backs.
The American economy still innovates.
It still wants to roar.
A historic boom is only ever a few smart policies away.
Are there any smart Republicans left?
Mr. Hennessey is an opinion editor at the Journal.
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