President Donald Trump's remaining two years in office could grow even more tumultuous than the first stretch of his second term, which has been defined by sweeping tariffs and a war with Iran that has pushed gasoline prices higher, according to officials and industry representatives cited in a report by Politico.

With the midterm elections behind him, Trump has little motivation to even attempt to keep the economy on an even keel, sources told the outlet — meaning, as one observer put it, the gloves are off from here.

"The possibility is that it could actually get worse, be more tumultuous, more unpredictable and higher tariffs," one industry lobbyist said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Republican and industry officials do not believe the president will slow his agenda because of a poor showing by his party in the midterms. If anything, they say, he may ramp it up.

"Trump still wants to bring tariffs close to where they stood before the Supreme Court struck down a broad swath of them in February, according to nine current and former officials, congressional aides and industry representatives," Politico reported. "He has teed up trade measures that could lead to new duties in the weeks after the election. The Pentagon, meanwhile, has been sending more forces to the Middle East, and Trump has been hinting that more action is coming in Iran."

Analysts who spoke with Politico said that despite the damage Trump's tariffs and unilateral wars have inflicted on consumer prices, the president had been working to put on a good face ahead of the midterms to protect his Republican majorities in Congress — majorities whose fate was on the ballot in November.

"GOP candidates in competitive midterm races in border states have already sought to distance themselves from Trump's renewed trade war with Canada that flared up in August, after trade talks between Washington and Ottawa broke down," according to Politico.

"The tariffs are hammering us," said one Republican in Michigan, where GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers and gubernatorial candidate John James were fighting fiercely for open seats. Meanwhile, the surge in gas prices that followed the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran has been weighing down GOP candidates in rural areas and suburbs alike.

But with the midterms out of the way and voters having delivered stinging setbacks to the GOP in November — and no nationwide vote due until the 2028 presidential contest — sources said nothing stops Trump from pressing forward with an even more extreme agenda.

"Trump's new actions could not only trigger Main Street angst, but could also sink stock markets and drive oil prices even higher, with impacts that are likely to reverberate not just in the next Congress but in the 2028 contest for president," Politico reported. "An additional round of levies after the election would be exactly the wrong lesson," one House Republican said, noting that if any Midwest Republicans eke out wins at this point, it will be "in spite" of Trump's tariffs.

A White House official refused to guarantee that Trump planned no new tariffs after the midterms, saying only that "any tariff announcements will come directly from the Administration" and that "any discussion or reporting about tariffs and tariff rates should be regarded as baseless speculation."

Politico reported that the White House did not respond to separate questions about its post-midterm plans for Iran.