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With T-minus 13 days until the midterms, polls suggest Republicans are headed for a wipeout. So what is Donald Trump—a self-proclaimed “frickin’ genius”—up to? Escalating a fight with his own party over his support for Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin. Beyond the life-or-death stakes for Ukrainians, the spat has forced many Republican officials to spend precious time criticizing the administration instead of Democrats. But the bigger story is that Trump’s long-standing affinity for Russia may finally be coming back to bite him in a meaningful way.

Back up: Last time you wrote about this, Trump was buying Russian diesel and criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. What’s happened since?

A lot. Last week, Trump signed an executive order immunizing Russia from new sanctions under a law Congress passed to punish Putin’s aggression. On Monday, the Washington Post revealed that the administration is holding up interceptor missiles Ukraine needs to defend against Russian attacks. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk may have conspired with Trump to throttle Ukraine’s access to SpaceX-made battlefield satellites. (“Some fools still think the legacy news is real. Amazing,” Musk wrote today on X in what read like a classic nondenial denial.) And on Wednesday, Steve Witkoff, the president’s real-estate buddy turned globetrotting negotiator, visited Russia and praised Putin, an autocrat who invaded a neighboring country and has reportedly ordered the assassinations of domestic political opponents, for his humanity. “You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian,” Witkoff said. “You are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that.”

How are Republicans reacting? 

Not well! “WTF, Steve?” Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina posted on........

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