While senior Trump advisers are joking about ruling the Republican-controlled Congress with “an iron fist,” Steve Bannon has compared Congress to Russia’s ceremonial parliamentary assembly, the Duma.
The former White House adviser told the Wall Street Journal that Trump’s four years “in the wilderness” between 2021 and 2025 hardened his resolve to realize his aims.
The WSJ provided examples, noting that Speaker Mike Johnson showed up at Stephen Miller’s 40th birthday party on August 23, to bend the knee as Congressional Republicans kiss the ring of Trump.
Another move the WSJ cited was Congress caving to name the tax and spending bill “The One Big Beautiful Bill,” as well as ignoring calls to release the Epstein files.
“This time, he’s having way more fun,” Trump ally David Urban is quoted as saying, comparing his present actions to those of his first term.
“Everyone’s on my side now,” the president reportedly boasted to his advisers earlier this summer. “They were fighting me last time.”