‘Bibi will save us’ – Trump aides joke about seeking asylum in Israel after midterms

Trump advisers sarcastically suggest administration officials seek asylum in Israel over midterm defeats, suggesting Israel’s prime minister will protect them.

By World Israel News Staff

Senior advisers to US President Donald Trump joked about seeking political asylum in Israel just days before Republicans suffered a sweeping defeat in Tuesday’s congressional elections, according to a New York Times investigation published Wednesday.

The report, based on interviews with more than 70 people, describes growing concern within Trump’s political operation as internal polling increasingly pointed toward major Republican losses in both chambers of Congress.

Six days before the November 3 elections, more than two dozen senior Trump advisers and Republican strategists participated in a private video conference to discuss the party’s electoral prospects.

During the meeting, Trump’s chief pollster, Tony Fabrizio, and Republican data consultant Tim Saler presented two possible outcomes: an optimistic scenario in which the party’s campaign operation succeeded in mobilizing its supporters, and a second scenario involving a devastating defeat.

James Blair, who had left his position at the White House to oversee Trump’s midterm election strategy, responded to the presentation with dark humor.

“I’m getting my affairs in order,” Blair told his colleagues, prompting laughter.

The discussion continued with jokes about funeral arrangements, prison food, presidential pardons and the possibility of fleeing the United States.

Blair then brought up Israel, which had held its own parliamentary elections the previous day.

“At least Bibi won. He’ll protect us,” Blair said sarcastically, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Maybe we could get asylum in Israel,” Fabrizio replied.

The remarks were reportedly made in jest and did not reflect any actual plans by the advisers to leave the country.

Netanyahu’s Likud party had emerged as the largest faction in Israel’s October 27 election, but his governing coalition lost its parliamentary majority, leaving the prime minister struggling to assemble a new government.

Trump had publicly endorsed Netanyahu nine days before the Israeli vote and subsequently claimed that his intervention had helped the prime minister recover politically.

The Republican strategists’ joking predictions proved prescient when Democrats captured control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate on November 3, winning races in traditionally Republican states including Texas, Kansas and South Carolina.

According to the Times, Republicans were projected to lose the nationwide congressional popular vote by approximately 13 percentage points, potentially representing their worst performance in half a century.

The investigation found that internal Republican polling had warned for months that Trump’s war against Iran and the resulting increase in gasoline prices were severely damaging the party’s electoral prospects.

An internal presentation circulated by Blair reportedly showed Democratic support rising during periods of active fighting with Iran, declining during diplomatic negotiations and increasing again after a ceasefire collapsed.

By late July, Democrats had established a 10-point advantage in the generic congressional ballot, with Republican strategists warning that such a margin could cost the party control of the Senate.

Fabrizio’s polling also found that disaffected Republican voters identified ending the Iran war and addressing inflation as their leading priorities.

The report described additional problems within the Republican campaign, including delays in allocating approximately $400 million in campaign funds, expensive last-minute advertising purchases and Trump’s support for candidates who ultimately lost key Senate contests.

In one instance, the Republican super PAC MAGA Inc. reportedly paid $30,000 for television advertising time in Alaska that a Democratic organization had purchased earlier for $2,700.

The White House disputed the suggestion that Trump was primarily responsible for the defeat, emphasizing that he was not personally on the ballot and arguing that Republican candidates had failed to mobilize his supporters.

MAGA Inc. spokesman Alex Pfeiffer also rejected aspects of the New York Times account, disputing statements attributed to Republican officials.

The revelations came as Vice President JD Vance publicly blamed the Iran war for the Republican Party’s losses.

“The reason we lost is the war,” Vance wrote Wednesday on X.

The vice president cited polling showing that former Trump voters wanted the administration to end the conflict, focus on living costs, pursue an America First foreign policy and reconsider Washington’s relationship with Israel.

Trump acknowledged Wednesday that the war had contributed to the Republican defeat by driving up gasoline prices, but defended his decision to launch military operations against Iran.

The president also indicated that he was prepared to work with congressional Democrats during the remaining two years of his administration.

The Democratic victories will substantially constrain Trump’s domestic legislative agenda when the new Congress convenes in January, while giving the opposition greater authority to investigate the administration and challenge its handling of the Iran war.

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