State senate primaries don’t usually attract as much attention as the ones Indiana held on Tuesday did. But President Donald Trump was on a mission of revenge. He deployed all the vindictiveness he could muster against a group of Republican state senators who had the temerity to vote against redistricting Indiana’s congressional map to give the GOP more than the seven of nine seats they already control.
He mostly achieved his goal: Of the seven apostate incumbents facing a Trump-approved challenger, five were defeated. Just one held on, and one race is still too close to call. But while Trump largely “won” these contests, did replacing conservative Republicans with other conservative Republicans really help him or the GOP? How these elections played out was evidence of the rot within the party — and the lengths it will go to in satisfying every one of Trump’s whims, no matter how self-destructive.
Republicans only reinforced the perception that they care more about holding on to power and kowtowing to Trump than doing much of anything to improve people’s lives.
This all started last year when Trump ordered Republicans in a number of states to perform a mid-decade redistricting to eliminate Democratic House seats ahead of this year’s midterms. Several state legislatures complied, including those in Texas, North Carolina and Missouri. But many Republicans in the Indiana Senate believed that their map — which already gave the GOP a 7-2 advantage — was good enough, and they didn’t like the idea of obeying orders from Washington.
This infuriated Trump, and even before the final vote, he began attacking these largely unknown legislators by name. Inevitably, bomb threats and swatting attempts soon followed. Vice President JD Vance made two trips to Indiana to pressure the Republican senators into voting for new maps, the White House political operation joined in, and Trump’s allies in multiple conservative groups including the political arms of the Heritage Foundation, Turning Point USA and the Club for Growth issued warnings to anyone who would dare say no to this president.
In the end, the redistricting bill failed by a vote of 31-19, with 21 Republicans joining 10 Democrats to reject it. The battle was over for purposes of the 2026 election — but not for Trump, who demanded primary challenges to the GOP senators up for re-election this year.
All of those targeted were, to be clear, Republicans who support a conservative agenda. But Trump wanted their heads, so his will had to be done, whatever the cost. Money poured in to defeat the incumbents: Primary spending on TV ads for state senate went from just $280,000 in 2024 to $13.5 million this year, an increase of more than 4,700%, according to AdImpact. It worked — even if in the process, Republicans only reinforced the perception that they care more about holding on to power and kowtowing to Trump than doing much of anything to improve people’s lives.
Keep in mind, replacing some Republicans with other Republicans won’t change Indiana’s maps this year, which means that at most it might come into play in 2028 or after. And let’s be honest: Trump doesn’t care who controls the House after he’s gone. This was always, and only, about him and his wounded pride.
No one around the president has the guts to say, “Wouldn’t it be better to concentrate on winning in November?”
One might argue that investing millions of dollars in taking vengeance on the Indiana Republicans will have a deterrent effect. Like a mob boss, perhaps Trump wanted to punish those who stepped out of line so no one in his party would get any ideas about showing independence. The problem, though, is that Trump will only be president for 2 1/2 more years. He is almost certain to lose the House this November, and perhaps the Senate as well, for the remainder of his presidency. Furthermore, the redistricting wars may be petering out: There are only so many seats even the most nakedly partisan state legislature can squeeze out of their maps.
In other words, there won’t be that many moments in the rest of his term in which Trump needs loyalty from Republicans, at least not for any practical purpose. What he does need it for, however, is to massage his fragile ego.
And when Trump wants something — including when it is politically pointless or even politically damaging — both the people who work for him and those who support his movement will swing into action, just as they did in Indiana. No one around the president has the guts to say, “Wouldn’t it be better to concentrate on winning in November?” Petty grievances always take priority.
After Dwight Eisenhower was elected to the White House in 1952, the departing president, Harry Truman, predicted the former general would have a difficult time adjusting. “He’ll sit right here and he’ll say, ‘Do this, do that,’ and nothing will happen,” Truman said. “Poor Ike. It won’t be a bit like the Army. He’ll find it very frustrating.” Trump has made sure to remove any such frustration; when he says jump, his lackeys rush to turn any idea he has into reality, no matter how foolish. That is exactly why he and his party are in such terrible political shape.
Paul Waldman is a journalist and author focused on politics and culture.