With less than two months until the 2026 midterm elections, Donald Trump is preparing to make the campaign about his favorite subject: Donald Trump.

But veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove is warning that the plan could become an electoral disaster for GOP candidates—and economist Robert Reich believes Trump’s personality makes any change of direction virtually impossible.

Trump has reportedly told advisers that Republicans should follow the strategy Democrats are already using by placing him at the center of the election.

The problem is that Democrats are doing so because Trump remains deeply unpopular.

Making every competitive House and Senate contest a referendum on the president could allow Democrats to nationalize local races, bury Republican candidates beneath Trump’s controversies and force GOP incumbents to defend every unpredictable statement he makes.

Rove, the architect of George W. Bush’s presidential campaigns and a former senior White House adviser, described Trump’s approach as a losing strategy.

“Trump is never disciplined”

In a Wall Street Journal opinion column, Rove offered a devastating forecast of what could happen if Trump begins holding rallies across competitive states and congressional districts.

“Trump is never disciplined,” Rove wrote. “He’ll have no script, saying whatever comes to mind.”

The consequences, according to Rove, will extend far beyond the rally stage.

Trump’s insults, grievances and improvised policy ideas could dominate local and national coverage. Instead of discussing their own records or proposals, Republican candidates would spend valuable campaign time answering questions about whether they support the president’s latest declaration.

“The narrative won’t be on anything positive about them or the GOP,” Rove warned.

That is particularly dangerous in competitive districts where candidates must appeal to independent voters and moderate Republicans who may already be uncomfortable with Trump.

A single inflammatory comment could swallow days of coverage—leaving GOP candidates trapped between distancing themselves from the president and risking retaliation from his loyal base.

A rally every day in October

Trump is reportedly planning an aggressive travel schedule during the final stretch of the campaign.

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy said he had heard “whispers” that Trump could travel extensively in October, potentially holding one rally per day in competitive states and districts.

For Trump, the events could recreate the spectacle of his presidential campaigns: large crowds, lengthy speeches and constant media attention.

For vulnerable Republicans, however, each appearance could become a political gamble.

A disciplined president might use those rallies to promote individual candidates, highlight regional concerns and deliver a tightly controlled economic message.

Rove does not expect Trump to remain disciplined.

If the rallies instead become extended performances centered on personal grievances, conspiracy claims or unrelated feuds, the candidates supposedly receiving Trump’s help could find themselves pushed entirely out of the story.

Reich says Rove is “yelling into the wind”

Reich, who served as labor secretary under President Bill Clinton, agreed that Rove had identified Trump’s central electoral liability.

But he argued that Republican appeals for the president to behave differently are unlikely to succeed.

Rove and other party strategists have urged Trump to “act more presidential” and deploy the enormous reserves held by his allied super PACs to assist Republican candidates.

Those appeals, Reich wrote in The Guardian, amount to “yelling into the wind.”

Trump-aligned political committees reportedly control approximately $403 million—money that could finance advertising, organizing and voter-turnout operations across dozens of competitive races.

Yet questions remain about how much of that fortune will actually be spent helping individual Republican candidates rather than promoting Trump himself.

Reich argued that the president may hesitate to invest heavily in candidates because their defeats could reflect badly on him. From Trump’s perspective, spending the money to elevate his own image may appear safer than attaching himself to candidates who could lose.

That remains Reich’s interpretation, not a confirmed explanation of the campaign’s spending decisions.

Republicans cannot escape Trump

The party’s dilemma is severe because Republican candidates cannot simply ignore the president.

Trump dominates the GOP’s fundraising, media coverage and grassroots identity. His endorsement can shape primaries, and criticism of him can trigger immediate attacks from conservative influencers and voters.

But his low approval ratings make him dangerous in general elections.

Republicans need his supporters to turn out, particularly in states and districts where participation typically falls during midterm elections. At the same time, an overwhelming Trump presence could mobilize Democrats and repel swing voters.

The president’s proposed strategy forces GOP candidates to balance those opposing risks while surrendering control of their own campaigns.

If Trump holds daily rallies, every Republican message could be overshadowed by whatever he says that evening.

Is Trump helping the party—or himself?

Reich’s harshest argument is that Trump’s political priorities are fundamentally personal.

He contends that the president cares about the midterms principally because Republican losses would make him appear weak—not because of loyalty to candidates or concern about the party’s legislative future.

“As almost everyone in the world knows by now, Trump cares only about himself,” Reich wrote.

That judgment reflects Reich’s opinion. But the approaching election will provide a measurable test of the broader concern raised by Rove.

Will Trump use his rallies, money and immense influence to keep Republicans in power? Or will he turn the midterms into another personal campaign, drowning vulnerable candidates beneath his own controversies?

Rove has delivered his warning. Reich’s conclusion is that Trump’s allies are wasting their breath.

And with election day approaching, Republicans may soon discover whether the president they built their party around has become the one liability they cannot control.