Conservative commentator Charlie Sykes is warning that President Donald Trump remains a dangerous political force despite his party's humiliating wipeout in the midterm elections, writing that “even massive defeat cannot shake the delusions of this deranged cult.”

Sykes, the longtime conservative talk radio host who has become one of the most prominent conservative critics of the president, made the assessment in a Substack post published Thursday titled No, The Trump Reign of Terror Isn't Over. In it, he argued that Trump emerged from the election weaker and “lame-duckish,” but cautioned that the president could become even more of a threat as he retreats into the final stretch of his presidency. His warning frames the central tension now shaping the end of Trump's term: a weakened president facing a Congress newly dominated by his opponents.

In an interview with the Guardian's David Smith published Saturday, Sykes said the MAGA movement had been “badly wounded and, like a cornered ferret, it can still be quite dangerous.”

Sykes told the outlet that the electoral defeat should serve as a jolt to the Republican Party, which has been in the grip of Trump for 10 years. History shows, he said, that a political party only changes course when it suffers a defeat of the magnitude of last week's election.

The Guardian noted that last week's results amounted to the most sweeping midterm rebuke of a sitting president since the Watergate election of 1974—a historical comparison that underscores the scale of the repudiation Sykes argues should force the GOP to change course. Sykes wrote that Democrat Scott Colom's victory over Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, along with an expected win for Mary Peltola in Alaska, will bring the Democratic majority in the Senate to 56 seats.

Signs the party hasn't gotten the message

In his post, Sykes pointed to evidence that the Republican Party has not absorbed the lesson. He argued that House Republicans have doubled down on MAGA by electing Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio as their new leader and by standing behind Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and the war in Iran.

Jordan, a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, defeated Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, 106-73, in a secret ballot vote on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. He will now lead a shrunken Republican conference in the minority in the next Congress and faces an uphill battle to retake the House in 2028. That contest will offer an early read on the question at the center of Sykes' argument: whether the party recalibrates after a defeat or stays its course.

“When Democrats offer more government, we'll offer more freedom,” Jordan told reporters after his victory.

Sykes also directed readers to an essay by writer Matt Labash in the New York Times arguing that Trump does not change course after being humiliated and is unlikely to start doing so at 80 years of age.

White House warning to Congress

The Substack post also highlighted a New York Times report revealing that the White House warned Congress that aggressive investigations could amount to a crime. It remained unclear what legal basis the Trump administration could rely on for such a threat, since the Constitution grants lawmakers immunity for legislative acts—a protection that underpins Congress' power to conduct oversight of the executive branch.

Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to rule out prosecuting Democrats over their plans to investigate the administration, Axios reported Sunday, after Trump called on prosecutors to go after lawmakers. Whether the Justice Department acts on that posture—and whether Democrats proceed with their promised probes—will shape the oversight battles ahead.

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee, went viral warning the Trump administration and the president's family to “lawyer up” as he promised a slate of investigations. In that role, Garcia will hold subpoena power over administration records and witnesses, putting him on a collision course with a White House that has branded such probes potentially criminal.