Escalating Antics: How Donald Trump's Recent Behavior is Reshaping the Midterm Election Landscape

President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on September 18. While President Donald Trump’s personal behavior is often strange, his conduct over the last 12 days has been pretty remarkable — especially with the midterm election around the corner.

He’s offered voters what even some Republicans say amounts to a bribe. He’s threatened to withhold disaster aid from a state if it doesn’t elect a GOP senator. Ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, he told a dubious story about his proximity to Ground Zero. He’s baselessly suggested Democrats conspired to kill him. He’s threatened to halt all foreign trade. He’s holding the future of the Kennedy Center hostage if judges don’t allow him to put his name on it. And now he’s denying certain media outlets, including CNN, access to the White House.

One of the most underestimated reasons for the decline in Trump’s political fortunes is Americans’ loss of faith in his leadership capabilities. Polling in recent months has shown: 67 percent of Americans said he doesn’t carefully consider important decisions, 71 percent said he’s not even-tempered, and more than 7 in 10 adults and registered voters said he doesn’t even have a plan for the Iran war, according to both Fox News and CNN polling.

Trump’s offer of $5,000 to every adult US citizen if Republicans keep their House and Senate majorities is certainly a quid pro quo, with registered voters saying 66 percent to 18 percent that it’s inappropriate. His threat to withhold disaster aid from North Carolina if it elects a Democratic senator is also eyebrow-raising, despite Trump saying he was kidding. His tale ahead of the 9/11 anniversary about firefighters carrying him away amid fears of a building collapse was unconfirmed and misleading at best.

Trump also claimed this week that the 2024 assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, was a Democrat plot to get him out of the election, though there remains no evidence that any Democrats were involved. Attempted assassin Thomas Crooks was a registered Republican, and FBI Director Kash Patel testified there was no evidence that Crooks was speaking to anyone other than his parents.

Trump repeatedly threatened to halt large portions of US foreign trade if the Federal Reserve doesn’t lower interest rates, claiming it would make at least $1.5 trillion a year. By Friday, Trump announced he was banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House effective immediately, leading to reporters being denied access and having press passes seized.

Additionally, Trump suggested the Supreme Court justices he nominated might have misrepresented their intentions, broke with US foreign policy protocol by praising the prospect of the reunification of Ireland, called concerns about AI safety a hoax, and pressured courts to let him put his name on the Kennedy Center.

As the midterm election approaches and his party's grip on power is on the line, Trump has chosen to up his antics rather than rein in his behavior.