June 24, 2026, 3:01 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump, in a tantrum that would make a 3-year-old blush, kneecapped his own party and canceled an affordable housing bill signing, saying it “pales in comparison” with an election bill. The one that would benefit one person: Donald Trump.
The June 24 mess was a perfect encapsulation of the president’s second term, a foolish act by a man focused only on celebrating or protecting himself.
Republicans had celebrated the bipartisan housing bill, which focuses on lowering housing costs at a time when the word “affordability” is at the top of voters’ minds. The signing would have been a key moment for GOP lawmakers to claim they care about affordability and show they can work with Democrats to get things done.
But no. Trump derailed the messaging with a social media post canceling the event, shortly after dismissing it as being “of minor importance” and throwing in a bit of racism by calling it an “Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren centric housing bill.”
Trump doesn’t care about housing affordability, just protecting himself
Trump angrily wrote: “Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency.”
That looked particularly bad after the White House, the night before, put out a statement saying that “President Trump has been clear: it’s time to restore fairness to the housing market and put families first.”
What the statement should have said is that Trump clearly wants to put Trump first.
The SAVE America Act could more accurately be called the Only Republicans Should Win Elections Act. It’s an absurd and unnecessary piece of legislation grounded in Trump’s never-ending and always-debunked conspiracies about election rigging.
Trump’s SAVE America Act nonsense has no chance of passing
Senate Republicans have made it abundantly clear they don’t have the votes to pass the bill.
Trump, in his desperation, has shown how much he fears Democrats taking control of one or both houses of Congress in the November midterm elections, knowing accountability would follow.
I don’t know how much closer we need to get to the midterms before Republicans recognize that Trump wouldn’t spit on them if they were on fire.
His narcissism has somehow grown more intense, and he will trample anyone who offers anything short of full capitulation to his every whim.
Trump blew a chance for Republicans to pretend they care
Blowing off the affordable-housing bill signing demonstrates that dynamic.
GOP Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota was excited about the signing and said at a morning news conference June 24: “House Republicans are going to be the party that governs and delivers.”
He had not yet heard the news.
Instead of giving Emmer an opportunity to promote his party, Trump opened the door for Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren to say this: “If you’re asking me to get into Donald Trump’s head and figure out what’s going on there, you need somebody else. I don’t have any idea. This just doesn’t make any sense, other than whatever it is he wants to do, it’s a complete indifference to the cost squeeze on American families and to genuine efforts to do something about it. You know he could be over here trying to claim a victory lap, and instead, he’s saying no, no, he doesn’t want anything to do with it. It’s because he really doesn’t care about American families.”
Correct. Trump cares about Trump. He doesn’t care about affordability, or Americans who are suffering, or about members of his own party desperately trying to fend off an electoral wipeout in the midterms.
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Certainly not to slack-jawed and disappointed members of a party that has coddled and empowered this giant baby of a president.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk.
