Drawing blood

Donald Trump was confused.

His top political aide, James Blair, arrived in the Oval Office one afternoon this April to pitch a novel gambit: Republicans could begin padding their narrow U.S. House majority well before voters went to the polls in November 2026. If successful, the move could insulate the White House from a potentially brutal midterm election — the kind, both men knew, that beset Trump during his first term, empowering a Democratic-controlled House to pursue endless investigations and impeach him twice.

The idea: Lean on red states like Texas to break from tradition and redraw congressional maps well before the 2030 population count triggers a mandatory reallocation of House seats. Blair began considering the maneuver shortly after Election Day in 2024, finalizing a plan while others in the White House focused on staffing the new administration. Now, it was time to brief the president.