Key Points – Author Michael Wolff, known for critical books on Donald Trump, recently predicted on “The Daily Beast” podcast that the President’s “self-destructive” tendencies will lead to a Republican “wipeout” in the 2026 midterm elections, likely costing them control of the House.
-Wolff further speculated that the president, unable to run again in 2028, would ultimately undermine whoever becomes the Republican presidential nominee because he “doesn’t want them to win.”
-President Trump has vehemently dismissed Wolff’s claims and past works as “fake news.” Wolff’s credibility has previously faced scrutiny, notably regarding a disputed claim about a Mueller draft indictment.
The Path for a Donald Trump Collapse?
Journalist Michael Wolff has been something of a thorn in the side of Donald Trump ever since he published his best-selling book about the opening months of the first Trump presidency, Fire and Fury, in 2018.
That book, in which then-adviser Steve Bannon was a major source, was the result of Wolff having close access in the early days of that Administration, while reportedly giving Trump’s team the impression that he was going to write a pro-Trump book.
Wolff has since written several other books about Trump, albeit without as much access as he had for the first one, and the most recent one is All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America, which was published in February.
In an appearance this week on The Daily Beast’s podcast, Wolff slammed Trump as “self-destructive,” and mapped out what his downfall might look like.
It Starts With the Midterms
Wolff said on the podcast that Trump’s tendencies will likely lead to a wipeout in the midterm elections next year.
“All of the kinds of things he’s doing now will result in him losing—certainly losing the House of Representatives,” Wolff said, predicting that the losses in 2026 will be “impressive.”
That has a strong chance of happening, between the historic trend of the president’s party losing seats in midterm elections, and the GOP currently holding a small majority in the House. Trump, per a Politico story earlier this week, is “obsessed” with winning the midterms, although that doesn’t mean he’ll succeed at doing so.
And Wolff is looking ahead further, to the 2028 campaign.
What Comes After for Trump?
The journalist is already looking ahead to the dynamic likely to prevail once the 2028 primaries get going: The Republican presidential primary will proceed, with Trump unable to run again, but still looming large over the process.
A Trump “proxy” will be the 2028 nominee, whether J.D. Vance or someone else, but the president will almost certainly overshadow that person especially in the eyes of the Republican base.
“That person will lose because (Trump) will undermine them because he doesn’t want them to win,” Wolff predicted.
Other highlights from the podcast episode included Wolff asserting that Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are essentially “separated,” while also speculating that Trump may be on Ozempic or another weight loss drug, despite a recent Rolling Stone story about the president’s self-proclaimed “addiction” to candy.
Trump vs. Wolff
While Trump often strikes back against negative media coverage, he’s been especially tough on Michael Wolff.
In February, he bashed Wolff’s latest book as a “total fake job, just like the other JUNK he wrote.”
The president further teed off on Wolff in a Truth Social post, stating that Wolff called him to attempt to set up a meeting but that Trump refused; reaching out for comment is a fairly common tactic for biographers, even hostile ones.
“Others in the Administration were also called, they reported his calls, and likewise, did not talk to him. I assume, however, he was able to speak to a small number of people, but not meaningfully,” the president added. He then stated that Wolff’s previous books about Trump had been “discredited.”
“He is FAKE NEWS, a total LOSER, and no one should waste their time or money in buying this boring and obviously fictitious book,” Trump concluded.
He does have something of a point about some details of Wolff’s previous books being “discredited.”
In Wolff’s 2019 book Seige: Trump Under Fire, he claimed that the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller had created a “draft indictment’ of Trump that was never filed.
While Mueller’s office rarely commented on news reports during that investigation, that assertion was forcefully denied by a spokesman.
“The documents described do not exist,” Mueller spokesman Peter Cook said at the time. Wolff, however, went on to stand by his reporting on the matter.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
