already hides. Not even a little bit. He looks like Rambo with his trimmer.
What for months seemed like a series of isolated attacks on critical Republicans has officially turned into something much larger within the United States: a veritable campaign of political retaliation that many American media already describe it as the “revenge tour.”
And this Sunday he made it clear again.
The American president used his social network, Truth Social, to launch a new message against several Republican leaders who have dared to question some of his decisions, especially in foreign policy and the management of the war with Iran.
But the main focus was on Texas.
“He was loyal to me”
Trump publicly came out in defense of Ken Paxton, attorney general of Texas and one of his great allies within the hardest wing of the Republican Party.
Paxton faces this week in a decisive primary to Senator John Cornyn, veteran Republican leader who has represented Texas since 2002 and who has maintained much more moderate positions regarding Trumpism.
And Trump made it clear what criteria he is using to choose sides.
“Ken Paxton was a great attorney general, probably the best in the country. He was also very loyal to his favorite president: ME,” he wrote.
Then came the phrase that many already interpret as the true political line of this new Trumpist stage: “His rival was very disloyal to me.”
The great republican purge
The strategy begins to repeat itself over and over again.
Trump is using the Republican primaries to try to politically expel any leader who has criticized him, contradicted or simply has not shown sufficient fidelity in recent years.
And the formula is working for him.
On May 19, the majority of candidates directly supported by him managed to win in different US states, further strengthening his absolute control over the Republican Party.
One of the most symbolic examples was that of the senator .
Cassidy voted in 2021 to convict Trump for the assault on the Capitol. Now she has just lost the Louisiana primary to a candidate directly endorsed by the US president.
The internal message is beginning to be very clear: confronting Trump can cost one’s political career.
Not even Iran escapes the internal war
The president’s offensive is no longer limited only to old enemies.
This Sunday he also attacked several Republican senators who have criticized the tentative agreement with Iran and the concessions made by Washington after months of military tension.
Among those mentioned are very powerful figures of the Republican Party itself such as Ted Cruz or Roger Wicker.
Some of them have directly questioned whether it made sense to launch a military offensive against Iran and then end up negotiating with Tehran on terms apparently more favorable to the Islamic Republic.
Trump responded by calling those critics “losers.”
The party increasingly revolves around a single person
The feeling in Washington is beginning to become increasingly evident: the Republican Party no longer functions solely as a traditional ideological structure.
It increasingly revolves around a much simpler idea. Personal loyalty to Trump.
And that is transforming the Republican primaries into a kind of public test of loyalty to the president.
Trump himself summarized it this Sunday without too many detours. He didn’t talk as much about programs, laws or ideology.
He talked about who was loyal to him…and who wasn’t.
