SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
At the start of 2025, Republicans came into Washington with a trifecta government, and President Trump promised the start of a, quote, "golden age of America."
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: A tide of change is sweeping the country. Sunlight is pouring over the entire world. And America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before.
DETROW: But as 2025 comes to a close, Republicans are fighting against a tide of unpopularity, especially around the economy. And riffs are beginning to emerge within the GOP over the party's direction and commitment to Trump's vision of America. NPR's Stephen Fowler has been covering the changing Republican Party and joins us now. Hi, Stephen.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Hey there.
DETROW: So let's start with that. President Trump returned to office arguing that his party had a mandate from voters to make massive changes across the country. How is that going now?
FOWLER: Well, Republicans have spent this year acting like they have a mandate. They've made sweeping changes to the federal government, foreign policy, immigration policy, economic policy - you name it. And that's even with a narrow majority in Congress. But Americans have generally given a thumbs down to those changes, and the president faces record-low favorability ratings. A lot of the concerns people had about the economy last year under the Biden administration that led them to vote for Trump are concerns that now plague the Trump administration in a similar way, especially around the concept of affordability.
DETROW: That's right. Biden and his administration dismissed it for a while, and last night, President Trump gave a speech that was supposed to be - it was billed to be - about combating inflation and affordability. What was the message there?
FOWLER: Well, the president has simultaneously claimed the economy is doing great under his administration and blamed Democrats for lingering inflation and higher prices.
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TRUMP: They have a new word. You know, they always have a hoax. The new word is affordability. So they look at the camera and they say, this election is all about affordability.
FOWLER: There's a real disconnect there because other Republican leaders say the upcoming midterm election is all about affordability, and they're trying to present a plan to help. So when House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked on Fox Business last week, if Republicans have a messaging problem, he had to say...
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MIKE JOHNSON: No. It's just that we've had so many things to message. I mean, it's a blessing and a curse. The Big Beautiful Bill was aptly named because there was so much in it, so much policy, and there were so many things to message all at once.
FOWLER: He's talking about Trump's signature economic policy, which includes tax and spending cuts, which largely hasn't taken effect yet.
DETROW: It's an odd-numbered year, but there's still been a bunch of elections, one-off special elections and bigger contests like a couple governors' races. What sort of temperature check have these results offered Republicans?
FOWLER: It's important to remember, Scott, that special elections are lower-turnout affairs that have tended to benefit Democrats. And this year, Democrats did improve on their margins in these races by an average of 13% from how they did last November. There were blowout victories in the New Jersey and Virginia governors' races, plus notable wins up and down the ballot and across the country in November. A lot of that has more to do with Democrats and how they're getting their voters to show up, but affordability and the economy were important factors to voters in those elections. So there are some warning signs for the Republican messaging plan in 2026.
DETROW: We mentioned at the top Republicans control all branches of government right now. Historically, midterms do not go well for the party in power, so how are Republicans trying to minimize that impact?
FOWLER: Two things at play here. Young people, non-white voters and others who have recently swung to the GOP are also the ones that could swing away in a midterm election and make the difference between a splash and a wave for Democrats. At the same time, there are growing conflicts within the more established conservative base around what parts of Trump's agenda are working and should be kept in the future. There also aren't as many competitive races on the table compared to other midterms, so the Republican Party can focus more on just a few places to really hone in and sell their vision for the final two years of Trump's term.
DETROW: That's NPR's Stephen Fowler in Atlanta. Thanks so much.
FOWLER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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