Welcome to Tuesday’s edition of Washington Secrets. We spent Monday sitting in various leather armchairs at the hotel formerly known as the Trump Hotel, watching the White House get the old team back together ahead of the midterm elections. Meanwhile, the administration firings continue. So who is next?
For two hours, the brightest campaign brains in Trumpworld convened at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. a few blocks from the White House, for a top-secret meeting on how to fight the midterm elections.
Or it would have been top secret, were it not for the window in the door to the Lincoln Library.
The titles of slides were just about visible through the glass, legible to anyone with a long lens.
Top White House official Susie Wiles, Donald Trump’s chief of staff, and James Blair, one of her deputies, convened the event to share data and messaging.
The event was titled “Trump World 2026: Allied groups presentation,” making it a chance for the White House to share winning lines and approaches with outside strategists and surrogates.
Secrets understands that among the slides of data presented were recommendations to turn the midterm debate away from a straight referendum on Trump and into a comparison with Democrats. Gas prices might be high now, but how bad would they be under Democrats?
Republicans are sitting pretty with swollen war chests. The Republican National Committee has nearly $117 million in the bank, while the Democratic National Committee is racked with over $18 million in debt, according to new Federal Election Commission filings. On top of that, MAGA Inc., a Trump-aligned super PAC, has more than $300 million ready to go.
On the flip side, Trump is fighting an unpopular war in Iran and has seen his approval rating sink to historic lows.
Wiles stayed for an hour but declined Secrets’ request for a readout, saying attendees had “sworn off” talking to the media.
WHICH PARTY IS AHEAD IN THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS FUNDRAISING GAME?
It was not until a yellow Hoka-wearing member of the Washington press corps announced himself to a security guard with, “I’m a journalist, I’m just trying to find out what’s going on,” that things changed.
An agitated figure in khaki pants sprang into action, directing hotel staff to secure the breach. Waldorf-Astoria-branded boards suddenly arrived to screen the window, and Secrets was cordially invited to find a less comfortable corner of the hotel to while away the day (in front of the main entrance, where a cold spring wind blasted in every time the doors opened).
By then, Secrets had already seen assorted Trumpworld luminaries arrive. And it looked as if Republicans were getting the old team back together.
Chris LaCivita, one of Trump’s 2024 campaign chiefs, buzzed around the grand atrium with a phone pressed to his ear. Jason Miller, communications adviser last time around, attended.
Other key figures seen entering were Taylor Budowich, former White House deputy chief of staff, tousle-haired Alex Pfeiffer, who was principal deputy director of communications until he left in September and is now spokesman for MAGA Inc., and Andy Surabian, outside adviser to Vice President JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr., among others.
John McLaughlin, Trump pollster, Danielle Alvarez, former Republican National Committee director of communications, and Trump adviser Alex Breusewitz were on the list.
So too was Ben Yoho. The chief executive of the Strategy Group was spotted walking through the grand atrium of what was once the Trump Hotel during a bathroom break.
His presence suggests he remains a fixture of Trumpworld despite scrutiny of how his company secured the contract to produce an ad campaign for the Department of Homeland Security while his wife was assistant secretary and spokeswoman there. (His company says it only earned a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by DHS.)
Outside figures suggested to Secrets that a smart move might be to remind Trump supporters (particularly those unlikely to turn out in the midterm) that a Democratic-controlled House might move to impeach the president. But a source familiar with the meeting said it did not come up.
The event wrapped up at 2:30pm, about five-and-a-half hours after it started.
Attendees offered their best wishes to Secrets as they left. “I’m still not talking to you,” said LaCivita.
Who’s next?
Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned on Monday evening amid misconduct investigations and signs that Trump is cleaning house ahead of the midterm.
The first year of his second term was free of the nonstop controversy, leaks, and firings that characterized his first term. But he has now lost three Cabinet secretaries in a matter of six weeks.
Several other key figures have their own problems. So who could be next on the chopping block?
Kash Patel: He is fighting back against allegations that he has frequently been MIA as director of the FBI by suing the Atlantic for $250 million. Yet there are constant mutterings from the Justice Department that he is an ineffective manager more interested in building his own brand than the nitty-gritty of running investigations. Kalshi odds on leaving office this year: 85%
Tulsi Gabbard: The Director of National Intelligence was already on thin ice. Trump has been quietly polling allies about whether he should replace the former Democrat, who has been noticeably absent from making the case for his war in Iran. It has also been noted that Trump has been quicker to fire women than men. Kalshi odds: 59%
Howard Lutnick: The Commerce Secretary is another who has had the last rites hanging over them for months. He has few allies and is seen as abrasive, but has long been friends with Trump. Crunch time may arrive next month when he testifies before Congress about his ties to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Kalshi odds: 55%
Chris Wright: The energy secretary was probably not in the firing line until this week. He has avoided personal controversy and was running a tight ship. Until the weekend, that is, when he said his assessment was that gas prices may not drop below $3 until next year. But Trump responded in a phone interview: “No, I think he’s wrong on that. Totally wrong.” Kalshi odds: 38%
Lori Chavez-DeRemer out as labor secretary. Who’s next?
Quote of the day
The U.S. commander in chief gave an interview to CNBC on Tuesday morning. As usual, it included claims that a big, beautiful deal to end the war with Iran is just around the corner, although he added that he did expect to extend the ceasefire beyond Wednesday.
Trump also mused on the length of other conflicts and claimed he would have won the Vietnam War in a matter of months.
“Five months. I would have won Vietnam, very quickly. I would have, if I were president. I would have won Iraq in the same amount of time.”
With the war in Iran now into its eighth week, is he shifting the metrics?
Lunchtime reading
Supreme Court secrets spill out: Insider names ‘hard a**’ Justice who is ’emotionally abusive’: In her forthcoming book, Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution, conservative journalist and author Mollie Hemingway lifts the lid on the justices’ treatment of clerks.
How America can fight back against enemy propaganda: “Information campaigns on X should not be merely a reactive force, responding to enemy provocation. U.S. diplomats should go on the offensive, hitting Russia, China, and Iran where it hurts. U.S. diplomats should craft content for X that exposes what these leaders attempt to hide.”
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