SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Earlier this week, President Trump was sitting in the Oval Office with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Trump repeated some things that he said frequently - that he's frustrated with NATO, that he wants more from U.S. allies abroad. And then he put it very clearly.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I just want loyalty. You know, we're so loyal to them.
DETROW: Loyalty - in that moment, Trump was talking about the war with Iran, but the statement rings true across the president's political dealings. NPR senior political correspondent Tamara Keith and congressional reporter Sam Gringlas join me now to talk about it. Hi to both of you.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Hello.
SAM GRINGLAS, BYLINE: Hey, Scott.
DETROW: Tam, I want to start with you. Is it safe to say that loyalty is more than just a passing request for President Trump?
KEITH: Yeah. I mean, this is a key Trump feature, going back at least to the very first days of his first term. I remember being in the Blue Room at the White House the Sunday after the inauguration when Trump drew in James Comey for a hug-like handshake.
DETROW: An unwanted one from Comey's perspective.
KEITH: Correct. And Comey was FBI director at the time, and by his account, Trump then had him over for dinner and told him, quote, "I need loyalty. I expect loyalty." Comey didn't agree to it, and we all know how this story ends. Comey got fired, became a vocal Trump critic and is now being prosecuted by Trump's Justice Department for a social media post of seashells. When it comes to Trump, it's almost like there is a new enemy born every day. He demands ultimate loyalty, and by that, he means obedience. And he turns on people quickly and fiercely.
DETROW: And, Sam, that seemed to be the case in Congress lately. I mean, this was quite a week there.
GRINGLAS: Yeah. I mean, Trump has this expectation that Congress should do what he wants. And when they don't, Trump sees this not as a function of having a coequal branch of government, but as disloyalty. You know, for example, the reality is that there are not enough votes to pass this elections bill Trump wants, the Save America Act, but he keeps torching Republican lawmakers anyway in personal terms. And then after a few Senate Republicans helped advance an Iran war powers resolution this week, Trump lashed out at them over lunch, getting into this heated argument with Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
BILL CASSIDY: The president said something negative about me. I perceived it as attempting to bully me from asking a question that I think the American people need to know. And so, at that point, it began to escalate.
GRINGLAS: What Cassidy is alluding to is that his loyalty is to his constituents. I should note, though, that Cassidy will be leaving Congress soon. Trump backed a primary challenger against him over Cassidy's vote to convict the president after January 6, maybe the ultimate show of disloyalty for Trump.
DETROW: I mean, measuring it by that term, I guess - I mean, these are all examples where Trump demands loyalty from other people. Is this just a one-way street?
KEITH: It's always transactional, like you heard in that clip about NATO allies. You do what I want. Give me your loyalty. I'll be loyal to you to a point. Back in May, I went to Indiana to cover state Senate primaries where Trump was trying to take out incumbents who had voted against a redistricting plan he wanted. These are all Republicans, state senators who made a decision based on what they thought was best for their local districts. At the time, I asked state Senator Jim Buck about this phenomenon.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
JIM BUCK: It gives you the impression loyalty only goes one way (laughter). I worked my fanny off for our president in '16, '20 and '24.
KEITH: But Buck ended up losing his primary. The incumbents were squashed by the Trump political machine. Seven were up for reelection, and only two survived their primaries.
DETROW: How clear is this transactional relationship to most Republican lawmakers?
KEITH: Trump says it out loud, explicitly. I want to play you something that he said in the Oval Office recently to Alabama Senator Katie Britt. But truly, you could sub in any name here.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: I hope she always remains loyal to me, so I can continue to support her.
KATIE BRITT: You got it (ph).
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: I would hate to go against her.
BRITT: You got it. You got it.
TRUMP: That will never happen, Katie, right?
BRITT: That's right.
KEITH: He's joking, but he's not. It's a pattern.
GRINGLAS: But, you know, maybe the best example of loyalty only going so far is Marjorie Taylor Greene. This is from a press conference shortly before she resigned from Congress.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: I gave him my loyalty for free. I fought for him for the policies and for America First. And he called me a traitor.
GRINGLAS: And then there's also Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn. He was pretty darn loyal, but Trump backed a primary challenger against him anyway, and Cornyn lost.
DETROW: What's the best way to think about the practical impact of this environment where a demand for loyalty is also a threat?
GRINGLAS: Well, in many cases, it has meant that Congress is unwilling to push back on the president. Now, there are some signs that that is changing somewhat as Trump targets supposedly disloyal incumbents like Cassidy and Cornyn. They've become more emboldened on their way out the door, and that can create headaches on key votes for the president's own agenda. In some cases, Trump is also making endorsements on loyalty, not electability, and so it could affect the midterms too.
DETROW: I think we're coming up on 10 years since Trump got the Republican nomination in 2016. A question people have had all along - if Trump's loyalty is so fickle, why do lawmakers keep doing what he wants?
KEITH: Because he makes it so painful if they don't, and because they do keep falling in line, Trump's demands for loyalty are reshaping the Republican Party in ways that could last long after he's out of office.
DETROW: That is NPR senior political correspondent Tamara Keith, along with congressional reporter Sam Gringlas. Thanks to both of you.
KEITH: You're welcome.
GRINGLAS: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
