Max Boot, a military historian and longtime GOP insider who has advised several Republican presidential campaigns over the past two decades, declared on Monday that Republicans should join Democrats in an effort to "rein in" President Donald Trump. Writing in a Washington Post opinion column, Boot argued that the moment has arrived for his party push back against Trump's "terrible foreign policy instincts." The column runs one week before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, putting his case to an immediate test at the ballot box.

Foreign policy rarely plays a decisive role in domestic politics, Boot acknowledged, but "this midterm election promises to be different. If, as now appears likely, this turns into a 'blue wave' election, Republicans can pin a great deal of the blame on President Donald Trump's foreign policy and trade agenda — and in particular on his foolhardy decisions to launch trade wars with many countries followed by a 'forever war' with Iran." According to Boot, these "unforced errors" are driving inflation and, with it, Trump's historic unpopularity. "He has nobody but himself to blame," he wrote.

Boot cited a new study showing that — contrary to Trump's claims — Americans have ended up footing 90 percent of the tariff bill in the form of inflation. Tariffs are duties collected on imported goods, and the study points to that burden being passed through to consumers rather than absorbed by exporting countries. Cost increases have been compounded by skyrocketing fuel prices triggered by Trump's war on Iran. Oil prices have surged 60 percent, while diesel prices have climbed even higher, up 70 percent. All told, the conflict accounted for a third of the increase in inflation and has cost the average U.S. household $1,100. In an effort to ease inflation, the Federal Reserve has been forced to hike interest rates — the central bank's standard response to rising prices — driving mortgage rates upward and raising borrowing costs across household budgets.

Public frustration is mounting. While Trump has dismissed the affordability crisis as a "hoax," Boot observed that voters are unmistakably feeling the economic squeeze. He pointed to a recent Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll in which 75 percent of respondents described economic conditions as "not so good" or "poor" — a major increase from the mere 34 percent who said the same during Trump's last midterm election in 2018, when Democrats picked up 40 House seats and reclaimed the majority. By a margin of 40 to 33, voters now trust Democrats more than Republicans on the economy.

Boot also took aim at Trump's "desperate" attempts to bring down prices, including the unpopular move of buying diesel from Russia. "That is unlikely to have any appreciable impact on prices, and it won't help Trump's slumping approval numbers, either," he wrote. "The more that Trump is seen as siding with Russia over Ukraine, the more he finds himself on the wrong side of U.S. public opinion. A recent Economist-YouGov poll found that 66 percent of registered voters sympathize with Ukraine compared with only 3 percent who sympathize with Russia. YouGov also found that Volodymyr Zelensky is the most popular foreign leader in the United States; his 53 percent approval rating is far higher than Trump's. So insulting Zelensky, as Trump does with distressing regularity, isn't a smart strategy for reversing the president's crumbling popularity."

Beyond the economic toll, Boot argued that Trump's war — exacerbated by his trade wars — has generated greater economic turmoil than other infamous conflicts such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan. Trump is now signaling that he plans to ramp up attacks after the midterms, and has even suggested starting another war. With Election Day a week away, the results will show whether foreign policy can decide a midterm race, as Boot contends, and whether Republicans still in office act on his call to work across the aisle.

Boot closed with a direct plea to his fellow conservatives: "Trump would be hard-put to engineer a more unpopular or more unsuccessful foreign policy if he tried. Republicans are likely to pay the price next week. Let us hope, for the sake of the entire world, that some of the Republicans who are left in office will be more willing to work with Democrats to rein in Trump's terrible foreign-policy instincts."