Epstein, Iran and ‘drain the swamp’: Have Republicans shifted before vote?
Al Jazeera examines how Trump's backpedalling on Epstein files, the Iran war and 'drain the swamp' is pushing some Republicans to quietly distance themselves before the midterms.
Donald Trump campaigned as a Washington outsider, promising to declassify the Jeffrey Epstein files, end foreign wars and "drain the swamp." Al Jazeera reports that, halfway through his final term, many Republicans are quietly recalculating, with the midterms approaching and some of those core promises reversed.
On Epstein, Trump pledged during the 2024 campaign to release FBI files on the convicted sex trafficker, then dragged his feet once in office, sparking fury among MAGA influencers, Al Jazeera says. Congress eventually forced the release of heavily redacted batches, with a handful of Republicans defying the president. The rift proved costly: Marjorie Taylor Greene left her Georgia House seat in January 2026 after clashing with Trump over the files, Nancy Mace lost her bid for higher office, and Thomas Massie faced Trump's wrath in his primary.
On Iran, Trump launched what Al Jazeera calls an open-ended war, despite years of pledging to scale back US military involvement. Tucker Carlson called it "Israel's war ... not the United States' war." In September, just seven House Republicans joined Democrats on an anti-war bill; Trump called supporters of the measures "unpatriotic."
On "drain the swamp," the administration purged tens of thousands of federal workers through the Department of Government Efficiency and targeted diversity programs, Al Jazeera reports — while giving lobbying groups a free hand and weakening ethics watchdogs.
"In competitive races, some are quietly distancing," one analyst, Shah, told Al Jazeera.
Source: Al Jazeera English — TrendWire reports stories in its own words; facts should be confirmed against the original source.