A plan to lower tariffs on imported beef and trade tensions with Canada have compounded some G.O.P. worries about a central issue in the midterms.

© Al Drago for The New York Times

With an unpopular war and high prices agitating voters, members of both parties see parallels to an election cycle when Democrats romped. But a lot has changed.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times

A moderate Republican from Kansas, she served three terms before tiring of political strife. “I couldn’t get elected today,” she said in 2013.

© Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Angie Nixon, a state lawmaker from Jacksonville, shocked Democrats in red Florida by soundly defeating her centrist primary opponent. Now comes the hard part.

© Saul Martinez for The New York Times

President Trump was in South Carolina to stump for Darline Graham, sister of Lindsey. But his own political future was on his mind, too.

© Alex Kent/The New York Times

Vice President JD Vance traveled to his hometown, Middletown, Ohio, and spoke at a steel factory where his grandfather once worked.

© Jon Cherry/Associated Press

A series of recent losses has eroded the president’s winning record, raising new questions about his hold over the party’s voters.

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The Wyoming Freedom Caucus had ambitions for a total takeover of elected state government. But its candidates were rejected from the governor’s mansion to the Legislature.

© Will Warasila for The New York Times

U.S. President Donald Trump on July 6 commented on tech billionaire Elon Musk's plan to create a new political party, calling it "ridiculous" and warning that third-party movements have historically failed in the United States.

"I think creating a third party is ridiculous... we've had tremendous success with the Republican Party," Trump told reporters on July 6 before boarding Air Force One in Morristown. "The Democrats have lost their way, but it's always been a two-party system, and I think creating a third party just adds to the confusion."

These comments came after Musk unveiled plans on July 5 to launch a new political force in the U.S. called the "America Party."

Musk said the party's goal is to "give you back your freedom" and offer an alternative to the entrenched Republican and Democratic systems, a few weeks after a public split with Trump.

The strained relationship between Musk and Trump began to deteriorate significantly after a period when Musk publicly supported Trump's re-election bid and held a high-profile role in the U.S. government's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk's new party announcement followed Trump signing a major tax and spending bill into law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, legislation that Musk had strongly criticized.

Trump later commented further in a Truth Social post, saying that third parties bring "complete and total disruption and chaos" and criticizing Musk.

"I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely 'off the rails,' essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks," Trump wrote.

Trump also linked Musk's political shift to his frustration over the recently passed Republican bill eliminating the federal electric vehicle mandate.

"It is a Great Bill but, unfortunately for Elon, it eliminates the ridiculous Electric Vehicle (EV) Mandate, which would have forced everyone to buy an Electric Car in a short period of time. I have been strongly opposed to that from the very beginning," Trump added.

Musk led DOGE until May 30 and had been a key figure in dismantling U.S. foreign aid institutions, including USAID, which delivered billions in aid to Ukraine.

Musk launches ‘America Party’ following public feud with Trump

The announcement came a day after Trump signed his sweeping tax cut and spending bill into law, a legislative act that Musk has fiercely opposed.

The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova