President Donald J. Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott attended a roundtable on Friday, July 11, 2025, in Kerrville. In addition to disaster response, their agenda includes congressional redistricting.

So, here’s a question as the dog days of summer amble our way: Could it be that President Trump is adding a Texas tune to his playlist at Mar-a-Lago? I have in mind “Running Scared,” written and made famous by the soaring, soulful tenor, the pride of Wink, Texas, the late Roy Orbison.

I ask, because Trump no doubt realizes that if history — and current poll numbers — are any guide, Republicans stand to lose the House next year to the beleaguered Democrats. (Republicans now hold a slim eight-seat majority, with three seats vacant.) If the House flips, pretty much the president’s whole agenda withers, except for what he can mandate with a perpetual avalanche of Sharpie-signed executive orders. So there’s a reason why the Orbison classic might be a Trump earworm.

Most certainly, the very real possibility of losing the House is the reason his political team has successfully persuaded Texas Republicans to set in motion an unusual mid-decade redistricting effort, which Gov. Greg Abbott

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