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Send ’em my way.

It’s always nice when the president of the United States confirms a central thesis of a column you write, isn’t it?

This morning, in my piece about the Tennessee special election, I noted that President Trump doesn’t appear especially engaged in helping downballot Republican candidates now that he’s a lame duck — leaving the GOP with all the political downsides of a Trump presidency (animating Democratic voters) without any of the political advantages (his ability, if he wanted to, to drive MAGA Republicans to the polls).

He’s stayed off the campaign trail, I noted, and repeatedly enacted unpopular policies like tariffs that will be no help to Republican candidates. But not like he ever has to be on the ballot again!

A few hours later, Trump pardoned Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, who was indicted last year on charges of bribery and money laundering. Cuellar, who represents a district Trump won by seven points, is one of the House GOP’s top targets in 2026. (In fact, under the new Texas lines, his district was Trump +11.) Just yesterday, the GOP’s prime recruit announced her campaign against him; his legal troubles was likely to be a top talking point.

Now, Trump has wiped the talking point away — while also going out of his way to compliment Cuellar in the pardon announcement, calling him a “Highly Respected Congressman” who “bravely spoke out against Open Borders, and the Biden Border ‘Catastrophe.’” Any Democratic congressman representing a Trump-friendly district would kill for that sort of praise. It’s just another example of Trump putting his idiosyncratic priorities (in this case, his efforts to undo Biden-era prosecutions) ahead of the Republican Party’s political fortunes. (His pardon of a former Honduran-president-slash-cocaine-kingpin, also not a great headline for Republicans, falls into this category as well.)

Do you have questions about the 2026 midterms or the complex relationship between Trump and the GOP? Or about Signalgate, the alleged drug boat strike, Trump’s signs of aging, fraud in Minnesota, Trump’s attacks on Somalis, new cracks in the House GOP leadership team, the latest discharge petition, or more? (Yeah, there’s a lot going on.)

Or maybe you have questions outside of the week’s news cycle — something bigger you’ve been wondering about politics, government, or media.

Send them my way! I want to answer them in my Friday mailbag column. There’s two ways you can send a question:

1. Leave a comment below.

2. If you don’t want to navigate the Substack app, or if you want your question to be anonymous, you can fill out this form and easily send your question over.

I’m looking forward to seeing what’s on your mind. I know many of you just signed up as paid subscribers during our Black Friday sale (welcome!); if that’s you, I hope you take advantage of this opportunity to ask a question ahead of your first paid mailbag column this week! Here’s that link again.

Talk to you tomorrow,

Gabe