Trump’s grip on his party is in question as Republicans reel from the midterm wipeout

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans aren't holding back.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described this week's elections as an “extinction-level event” for the GOP. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz likened it to a “Watergate-level repudiation.” Former Vice President Mike Pence called it a “reckoning.”

For all the apocalyptic talk emerging from a midterm that relegated Republicans to their thinnest ranks on Capitol Hill in decades, there's little agreement on how the party should move forward.

A return to the bedrock fiscal and national security conservatism that defined Republicans under President Ronald Reagan risks alienating the more hard-line conservatives welcomed into the party under President Donald Trump under the “Make America Great Again” banner.

But leaning even further into Trump's coarse brand of politics could lead to more voter rejection.

“We have soul-searching to do," Alex Latcham, the executive director of the Senate Leadership Fund, which spent $810 million to support Republicans, said in an interview. “We need to first understand and honestly admit why we just endured a wipeout of this magnitude. And then we have to regroup and agree to a path forward.”

As has been the case for the past decade, the central question is the role Trump will play in shaping the party's future. His insistence on loyalty reached a zenith this year as he intervened in GOP primaries and pressed voters to make the elections a referendum on his second term. He held dozens of rallies in the final weeks of the campaign for candidates, most of whom lost their races.

Since Tuesday's election, he's refused to acknowledge any responsibility, placing blame on the candidates. His public events have focused on his pet projects in Washington, which have proven unpopular with voters. On Friday, he elevated Stephen Miller , the architect of some of his most contentious policies, to White House chief of staff.

In an interview, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt , a Republican, said the election results were “shocking” but that Trump could still steer the conversation around issues such as immigration. The governor described the GOP's current dynamic as a natural process for a party whose leader is deep in his second term.

“It just tells you that the American people, after 10 years, they're pretty much tired of whoever's in office,” Stitt said. “I think people want a little more stability. They want people to be nice to people, to say, 'Hey, we’re all Americans.'”

Others were more blunt.

Longtime conservative commentator Tucker Carlson said the midterms marked “the end of the Trump era." John Sununu, a Republican who lost his bid for a Senate seat in New Hampshire, blamed Trump.

"It seems like he or his family is in on every transaction and deal that goes on in Washington,” Sununu told John Kasich, a former Republican congressman from Ohio, on SiriusXM. “Those two things, I think, caused people to say, ‘You know, I just can’t vote for a Republican while he’s still in office.’”

The GOP infighting is poised to intensify quickly.

When Republicans return to Capitol Hill next week, they'll have to choose between Reps. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio to lead the party in the House. They may weigh whether to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth . There could also be tough votes on defense spending and keeping the federal government open after Dec. 11.

Already a leadership fight is brewing at the Republican National Committee, where there are early conversations about limiting Trump’s influence in picking the next chair. KC Crosbie, currently the co-chair, circulated a letter this week calling the midterms a “serious setback” and announcing plans to run for chair at the committee’s January meeting in Arizona.

Trump announced his support Friday for the party's current chair, Joe Gruters.

That's to say nothing of the emerging contest for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. Vice President JD Vance , seen as a leading contender, will likely face a broad range of opponents if he enters the race. Stitt is among the Republicans calling for a “big open primary.”

“I don't think we should crown anybody,” he said.

There will be pressure to revive the coalition of voters, particularly Latinos, who have lifted the party to success in previous elections but swung to Democrats this week. Former Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., said he thought Secretary of State Marco Rubio is best positioned to win Latinos.

“The two main constituencies that Republicans have to quickly regain are white suburban voters and Hispanic voters,” Curbelo said in an interview. “Vance was out on the campaign trail this year and it doesn't appear that he was able to move the needle in terms of Hispanic voters.”

A representative for Vance didn't comment on that characterization.

Still, the fallout for the GOP is broad, according to The AP Voter Poll , an expansive survey of about 80,000 voters in all 50 states.

Younger Republican voters who supported the Republican candidate in their House race were less likely to approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, and more likely to say he worsened the economy with his policies.

About two-thirds of Republican voters under 30 said they approved of how Trump was handling the presidency, compared with about 9 in 10 Republican voters age 65 and older. About one-third of younger GOP voters said Trump had worsened the country’s economic conditions, compared with about 2 in 10 older Republican voters.

The war with Iran also appeared to divide Republican voters, with about 6 in 10 Republican voters under 45 saying the U.S. made the right decision in taking military action against Iran. That rose to about 8 in 10 among Republican voters who were 45 and older.

Young Republican voters were more likely to say the U.S. support for Israel was “too strong.” Roughly half of Republican voters under 30 said the country’s backing of Israel was “too strong,” compared with about 1 in 10 voters 65 and older.

Despite rosy outlooks from top Republicans including Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in the final weeks of the campaign, Republican strategists had long seen the country's confidence in the party unraveling.

In late August, the Senate Leadership Fund convened a donor retreat in Laguna Beach, California, where Latcham told the group that Republicans had lost the confidence of voters on handling the cost of living and the economy, according to two Republican Senate campaign sources who attended the event. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.

In defeat, Republicans are trying to take a broader view, knowing that it may take several election cycles before they one day return to power.

Rep. Christopher Smith was reelected to his 24th term this week and is New Jersey's last Republican in Congress. He took a long view on the party's current struggles.

“The pendulum swings back and forth,” he told reporters. “These are cycles.”

Associated Press writers Steve Peoples, Kevin Freking and Linley Sanders contributed to this report.