President Donald Trump has developed a new catchphrase to deflect criticism from frustrated Republicans and White House aides as his administration faces mounting challenges 18 months into his second term.
The 80-year-old president has taken to repeating “I’m the president and you’re not” when allies and advisers question his judgment on recent policy decisions, according to the newspaper. The childish retort reflects Trump’s growing tendency to trust his own instincts over the counsel of experienced aides, lawmakers, and veteran political operatives who helped navigate his turbulent return to the White House. The habit is testing Trump’s already weakening grip on the Republican Party. Senator Bill Cassidy, who lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger in May 2026, expressed his dismay to the Journal regarding the president’s new Iran deal, according to the newspaper. Cassidy said Ronald Reagan is “rolling over in his grave” and calling the deal “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”
On Wednesday, Trump formalized a preliminary deal to end hostilities with Iran at the historic Palace of Versailles in France, a location famous for over a century as a symbol of poor diplomatic decisions. Under the terms, Iran will allow oil shipments to resume through a critical Persian Gulf passage, and in exchange, Washington will remove sanctions, release frozen funds, and contribute to a $300 billion rebuilding initiative.
Cassidy represents only the most vocal of hawkish Republicans balking at what they characterize as providing Tehran with financial assistance while its nuclear ambitions remain mostly intact. The Journal reported that Wednesday’s signing surprised staff members, who had scheduled a different event for Friday.
Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, not typically one to publicly disagree, described the deal as “completely out of step with the president’s goals.” The criticism marks a significant erosion of party discipline that characterized Trump’s first year back in office.
Trump has also disrupted his own party’s confirmation schedule in Congress. He delayed the nomination process for Jay Clayton, a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman selected to become director of national intelligence, allowing acting director Bill Pulte, a 38-year-old loyalist, additional time to cut positions at the intelligence agency.
The freelancing has handed Democrats a trove of attack-ad fodder ahead of the midterm elections, the Journal reported. Trump has dismissed concerns about the upcoming midterms and responded to questions about rising costs resulting from the Iran conflict by saying only “I love the inflation” as a retort.
Ron Bonjean, a former spokesman for Republican leaders in Congress, told the Journal that dynamics have shifted substantially. “The total control that Trump once had over Congress just isn’t there anymore,” he said.
The White House has defended the president’s freewheeling approach. Spokesperson Olivia Wales said that “no president has worked harder or delivered more than President Trump.” The president himself has cast the upheaval as beneficial, writing on Truth Social that his moves “add a slight bit of intrigue” but have ultimately served the country.
Trump’s current struggles stand in contrast to his response to what he characterized as a third attempt on his life in less than two years. On April 26, 2026, a man with guns and knives tried to rush past the security perimeter inside the Washington hotel where the Republican president was about to address the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Authorities identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California. At a hastily organized news conference that Saturday night, Trump told reporters it was “always shocking when something like this happens.”
He called the presidency “a dangerous profession” and noted that “no country is immune” to political violence. Trump suggested he was targeted because of his impact, invoking Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. He also called for Americans to put aside their differences and unite, a break from his usual combative political style. The tone represented a marked departure from his current dismissive approach to Republican critics.
The president has also clashed with Pope Leo XIV over his Iran policy. The U.S.-born pontiff pushed back on April 13, 2026, against Trump’s criticisms, telling reporters aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria that he has “no fear” of the Trump administration and would continue advocating for peace.
Trump said he didn’t think the pope is “doing a very good job” and called him “a very liberal person.” The president also wrote on social media that “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” adding, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
The confrontation between the president and the pope represents another instance of Trump’s willingness to attack critics regardless of stature. Italian politicians across the spectrum showed solidarity with Pope Leo XIV following Trump’s attacks.
Meanwhile, Trump said his administration would reduce enforcement operations in Minnesota following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti on Saturday by federal immigration officers. Pretti, an intensive care nurse at a veterans’ hospital, was the second U.S. citizen fatally shot by immigration officers in the state, following the earlier killing of 37-year-old Renee Good.
The Minnesota operations represent another area where Trump’s aggressive approach has generated bipartisan criticism and forced tactical retreats. Trump called Pretti’s death “a very unfortunate incident,” though he also commented that Pretti “shouldn’t have been carrying a gun.”
As Trump enters the second half of his second term, his insistence on trusting his instincts over experienced advisers appears to be generating increasing friction within his own party, complicating his ability to advance his legislative agenda and foreign policy goals.