Trump Urges GOP to Exploit Supreme Court Gerrymandering Ruling Ahead of Midterms

The following is a lightly edited transcript of the May 5 episode of the Daily Blast podcast. Listen to it here.

For background reading on the topic of today’s episode, see this piece arguing that the Supreme Court’s gerrymandering ruling will unleash a massive redistricting arms race.

Supreme Court Ruling Sparks New Gerrymandering Push

Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network. I’m your host, Greg Sargent.

Last week, the Supreme Court gutted a key protection against racial gerrymandering, and Donald Trump is already urging Republicans to capitalize on it. In a Truth Social rant, Trump called on GOP states to gerrymander their congressional maps to the max in time for this fall’s elections—effectively eliminating as many seats represented by African Americans as possible.

By expressly tying this to the midterms, Trump openly admitted that this new gerrymandering push is all about retaining power amid his plummeting approval ratings, which just hit yet another new low. All of which will require Democrats to respond strategically.

Fair Fight Action Strategist Weighs In

Max Flugrath of the voting rights group Fair Fight Action has been analyzing the road ahead for Democrats. We spoke to him about the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision.

Max Flugrath: Greg, thanks so much for having me.

Sargent: As you all know, the Supreme Court’s ruling gutted the Voting Rights Act yet again, removing a critical check on racial gerrymandering. On Truth Social, Donald Trump urged GOP legislatures to act on the ruling by aggressively redrawing their congressional district maps, claiming, “Republicans will receive more than 20 House seats in the upcoming midterms.”

Now, Max, the idea that Republicans can gain 20 House seats in time for the midterms is unrealistic, and we’ll get to that. But first, note how Trump doesn’t even disguise that this is about preventing the loss of the House of Representatives. Your thoughts?

Flugrath: It’s a shameless paragraph, plain and simple. And it’s something that his advisors have actually been talking to donors about for some time. In December, Axios reported that Chris LaSivita and Fabrizio—Trump’s pollster—were at an RNC donor retreat telling them that this case, Louisiana v. Callais, would boost their prospects in 2026 and transform the Republican Party’s ability to win elections for years to come. They’re not being coy about it at all.

Current State of the Redistricting Arms Race

Sargent: They certainly aren’t. Let’s recap the current situation. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, just signed a new map potentially flipping four Democratic seats into the GOP column. Up until now, the redistricting arms race had been mostly a wash, particularly after Virginia redrew and added up to four Democratic seats. So now, with Florida’s move, the ledger may tip slightly toward the GOP. Much depends on court rulings in both the Florida and Virginia cases, but it could end up being a wash.

Can you sum up where we are?

Flugrath: So yeah, this