Trump's 'Limitless Money' Won't Stop What's Coming, Biographer Michael Wolff Says
Key Takeaways
- •Michael Wolff predicted on his Daily Beast podcast 'Inside Trump's Head' that Democrats will win sweeping victories in next week's midterm elections despite massive Republican spending.
- •Wolff forecast that Democrats will capture the Senate, that Texas Democratic state lawmaker James Talarico will win his Senate race, and that Trump will lose control of Congress.
- •Co-host Joanna Coles disagreed with Wolff, predicting a Democratic House majority while saying the Senate remains in the balance because of extensive Republican ground operations and Elon Musk's get-out-the-vote funding.
- •Wolff praised Talarico's strategy of running against Elon Musk, whom he said has poured more than $250 million into Texas alone.
- •Next week's vote will decide the House and Senate majorities that determine how much of Trump's agenda can pass Congress for the remainder of his term.
President Donald Trump may command what his one-time biographer describes as effectively "limitless money," but Michael Wolff argues that no amount of spending will be enough to prevent what he expects to be a sweeping set of Democratic victories in next week's midterm elections.
Wolff, a longtime author and journalist best known for his extensive coverage of Trump's political career, including several books on his first term in office, shared the prediction on the latest episode of his Daily Beast podcast, "Inside Trump's Head," in conversation with co-host Joanna Coles. He said he anticipated a strong slate of Democratic wins despite the hundreds of millions of dollars that ultrawealthy donors have funneled to Trump and the GOP — an outcome he argued would carry a broader message about the role of money in politics.
The stakes are considerable: next week's voting will decide the House and Senate majorities that determine how much of Trump's agenda can clear Congress over the remainder of his term.
"The Republicans have limitless money," Wolff said. "So if the Democrats win, that's a marker. It doesn't matter how much money you have. The contempt for Donald Trump overwhelms that."
Wolff went further than Coles in his optimism about Democratic prospects, particularly in the hotly contested Senate race in Texas, where Democratic state lawmaker James Talarico is running. Once the results were in, he added, Trump would be facing a Congress unlike any he has dealt with before.
"I think [James] Talarico is going to win," Wolff predicted. "I think the Democrats are going to win the Senate. Trump is going to lose the United States Congress."
He then pressed his co-host on the point: "I just want a record here — you don't think the Democrats are going to win the Senate?"
"I actually don't think the Democrats are going to win the Senate," Coles responded. "I do think they'll win the House by a serious majority. But I do not think they are going to win the Senate. I think the Senate hangs in the balance ... I think Elon Musk has put an enormous amount of money into people getting out the vote. The operations on the ground for the Republican Party are really extensive."
Wolff pushed back on that assessment, arguing that the intensity of voter anger toward Trump was simply more than Republican fundraising could overcome.
"That's the velocity of the contempt for Donald Trump," he said. "There really is a chance that it will overcome all of that."
Wolff also highlighted the strategy of Talarico in Texas, who has framed his campaign as a direct challenge to Musk.
"And I think that James Talarico has done a very smart thing to pivot to say he's running against Musk, that Musk has poured over 250 million [dollars] into Texas alone and is now like, you know, Musk is trying to buy this election," Wolff said. "I think that's all very effective messaging."
The results, due next week, will show whether it is Wolff's forecast or Coles's caution that comes closer to the mark.
