Trump Is Saving Democrats From Themselves With His Latest Attacks — And Detentes

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump, for better or worse, has long built his political career upon effectively attacking his opponents and exploiting their perceived weaknesses with the public. In 2016, Trump ferociously went after Hillary Clinton and, in the end, managed to pull off an upset victory by convincing enough Americans that he was the least bad of two flawed candidates.

Fast forward to November 2025, and it seems all of a sudden that Trump’s political instincts may be faltering as, instead of exploiting the Democrats’ weak spot, he’s elevating one of their stronger leaders onto the national stage. In the past week, Trump’s attacks on Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) have thrown the retired Navy Captain and former astronaut into the political discourse in a whole new way. While Kelly has long been a rising star on the Democrats’ bench, this is his first sustained tussle with Trump. With Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth now trying to court-martial Kelly, the fight appears far from over, and given the actual contents of the clip, Kelly looks likely to prevail.

On the flip side, Trump surprised many late last week by warmly embracing New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office. For months, Trump had previewed his strategy of tying the Democrats nationally to Mamdani ahead of the midterms, clearly hoping that Democratic Socialist Mamdani’s lack of experience and perceived past extremism on several issues – from policing to tax policy to the Middle East – would give Republicans a boost in what is certain to be a tough year for them. Instead, Trump offered Mamdani and his ideas a full-throated embrace that makes attacking him much harder for a GOP deeply loyal to Trump and reliant on his political instincts and sway.

Exactly why Trump went from calling Mamdani a “communist lunatic” to saying “some of his ideas are the same ideas I have” is anyone’s guess. Reuters reported on Monday that Trump plans to focus his party’s messaging in the midterms around affordability – the same issue that Mamdani rode into office. Other pundits suggested Trump’s affinity for Mamdani was simply “game recognizing game.”

It’s entirely plausible that Trump saw Mamdani’s message as similar to the one he ran and won on and just didn’t want to cede that ground to the Democrats. After all, Trump made many of the same empty populist promises that Mamdani has, basing his 2024 campaign on immediately lower prices (which have not come down) and ending the war in Ukraine in the first 24 hours (it continues). Similarly, Mamdani’s plans for free buses, raising property taxes, and arresting Benjamin Netanyahu all face serious logistical, political, and legal impediments. It’s also entirely possible, Trump genuinely just wants his native New York City to do well and felt reassured by Mamdani’s promises on continuing to fight crime and keep the streets clean. Trump may also have simply been charmed by Mamdani.

While it’s still more likely than not that Trump flips on Mamdani and goes back to attacking him before Election Day 2026, for the time being at least, he’s training his fire on Kelly. Kelly sparked Trump’s ire this month by appearing in a public service announcement urging military members to question “illegal orders” and follow the Constitution. The video ignited a firestorm of anger on the right, which Trump has capitalized on and taken to new heights by accusing Kelly and his fellow Democrats in the clip of treason, “punishable by death.”

Kelly, who is very popular in his native Arizona, represents the one element of the Democratic Party that has beaten Trump nationally – a moderate in the mold of Joe Biden. While Kelly and Biden come from the same wing of the Democratic Party, Kelly comes with several added advantages: his military background, his representation of a key swing state, and his widely revered wife Gabby Giffords – whose long recovery from a gunshot to the head is nothing short of miraculous. Trump fights with the likes of Kelly at his own peril and is doing the Democrats a huge favor by shifting the attention away from the surging progressive left and back toward the middle of the party.

Ahead of Mamdani’s win, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told reporters unequivocally that he does not view Mamdani as the next leader of the Democratic Party, as he’s focused on retaking the House majority. Jeffries knows that becoming the next speaker goes through swing districts in states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona – just like the presidency does. In all of those places, Kelly is a likely winner, where Mamdani would be an almost certain loser if they were on the ballot, and Trump, who has made a career out of attacking the so-called “Squad,” knows this. The midterms are still a year away, and a lot can change, but as of right now, Trump is helping to save the Democrats from themselves.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.