At this point, you have to kind of wonder... is Donald Trump trying to lose the midterms?

That's a rather extraordinary question to ask, of course. After all, what sane president would want to tank his own party's chances of success in the midterm congressional elections? The entire next two years could include plenty of legacy-defining moments for a lame-duck president who cannot run again. Winning the midterms could be the difference between being impeached for a jaw-dropping third time and having a Republican House do Trump's every bidding. It could mean the difference between a Democratic Senate that refuses to confirm anyone Trump nominates for any office and a GOP Senate that cheerfully confirms every quack, flim-flam man, and carnival barker Trump decides is worthy of high office. The difference between muscular oversight of the executive branch and a bunch of spineless toadies who all follow every Trump command to the letter all hangs in the balance.

But Trump just doesn't seem to care.

The most recent case in point for this argument is the completely unnecessary and gratuitous trade war Trump just launched with Canada. Out of the blue, Trump reminded all voters that all of his tariffs are taxes (on them), that all his tariffs do nothing but raise prices on everything, and that Trump just does not care how it all affects hardworking American families. His juvenile knee-jerk "renaming" of Lake Ontario is just further proof that Trump cares more about performative nonsense than he does about addressing the voters' concerns (I put that word in "scare quotes," because absolutely nobody expects Trump's new name to catch on, and it will doubtlessly be tossed on the ash-heap of history on the first day of the next Democrat's term in the Oval Office).

What's remarkable about Trump's hissy-fit trade war is that it will have a major effect in at least two (and probably more) states that are shaping up to be big battlegrounds in the race for the Senate. Maine does a lot of cross-border trade with Canada, and Michigan's auto industry will bear the brunt of a new tariff on car parts and automobiles. Maine is one of the Democrats' biggest targets of states with a Republican senator running for re-election, and Michigan could be a very close race where Republicans have a shot at flipping a seat. There are other states who could also be affected in very big ways, from Alaska (which assumably also has a lot of cross-border trade with Canada, since it is indeed their only land border) to big farm states (like, perhaps, Iowa).

Then there's Trump's continuing fiasco of a war of choice with Iran. This ramped up again over the weekend, with another exchange of bombs and missiles between the U.S. and Iran. The global oil market immediately took note, and the price of a barrel of oil headed upwards again. With a little over two months to go before the midterm elections, this almost guarantees continued sky-high prices at the pump for American consumers through November. Trump did an abysmal job selling the reasons for this war to the American public, and his approval ratings show it. Even staunch MAGA types are not happy with the way the war is going, and they are reminded of it every time they fill up their big pickup trucks at the pumps (or just put in half a tank, because they can't afford a full one).

There is no end in sight to this misbegotten war. The one offramp that emerged (the ceasefire and Memorandum Of Understanding) fell apart within weeks -- although it did lead to a significant drop in the price of gas in America while it was in effect. If it could have been salvaged, we would all probably be paying a least 50 cents a gallon less for gas right now, but it was doomed from the start (since Trump agreed to some impossible conditions the Iranians demanded). And now the news is full of stories about how this is adversely affecting the men and women in uniform, the Navy, the rest of the military, military stockpiles of critical weapons, and America's ability to project military power around the world. Trump's war has made us weaker.

Trump is quite obviously losing this war, and he also quite obviously has no strategy whatsoever for ending it. Pete Hegseth is an embarrassment, but Trump refuses to fire him and replace him with someone even halfway competent. Trump's too busy renaming lakes and whatnot.

Trump has also become the biggest champion of the most-hated industry in America right now, as he excoriates voters (many of them his own) for pushing back against gigantic data centers in their neighborhoods. Even the governor of Texas has belatedly realize the potency of this hot-button issue and is trying to convince Lone Star voters that he will fight back against the very data centers he's been championing. Many other Republican politicians have also realized what a losing issue this is for their party and have come out against them -- but not Donald Trump. Two-thirds of Republican voters are against data centers near them, but Trump hasn't gotten that memo, obviously. Here's what he just posted about the issue on social media:

The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor. If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign. The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement. Actually, they can't believe it is happening!

For contrast, here is how Senator Bernie Sanders responded:

No, Mr. President, the 75% of Americans who oppose data centers in their communities do not want to be "backwards and poor." They want a decent future for themselves, their kids and their communities. They understand that data centers are destroying local environments and that these out-of-control technologies will likely eliminate tens of millions of jobs, eviscerate our privacy, negatively impact the mental health of our children, radically alter how we as human beings relate to each other, undermine our democracy and threaten the very future of humanity. They have every right to be concerned.

Note that statistic -- three out of every four Americans are now against data centers. But Trump's still carrying the banner for them. Again, it's almost like he is trying to lose the midterms.

Some Republicans are already annoyed that Donald Trump has, so far, sat on the sidelines of the midterm campaign. Trump's got his own personal super PAC that is sitting on a mountain of cash -- over $400 million -- and so far he hasn't spent any of it helping his fellow Republican candidates. They're all hoping he'll ride to their rescue after Labor Day (which falls rather late this year), when the homestretch of the campaign truly begins. But it's being reported that Trump is going to spend his money on ads largely touting his own record rather than actually targeting any issues that might help individual House members or senators. He keeps telling voters to "pretend I'm on the ballot," which he is convinced will succeed in turning the tide of public opinion (a dubious proposal, since Trump's poll numbers are almost as bad as the data centers' popularity).

Meanwhile, a big blue wave could be building, out there. Democratic voters are incredibly enthusiastic about voting, while Republicans (even MAGA ones) are getting more demoralized and depressed by the day. Renaming Lake Ontario isn't doing Trump voters any good, and they'll never see the inside of the palatial ballroom Trump is building. Trump is actively making their lives worse in multiple ways, with new high tariffs (for no particular reason) and sky-high prices at the pump for gasoline. Trump continues to peddle the nonsense that the affordability crisis is somehow some sort of "hoax" perpetrated by Democrats and the media, but such gaslighting is not likely to work the way he thinks it will. Trump is telling his own voters they are idiots for caring about data centers hiking electricity prices and driving down property values. Over and over again, in multiple ways, Trump is proving to his own voters (not to mention the independents who have no solid party loyalty) that he just doesn't care about them. He doesn't care what they are paying for everything, he doesn't care what their families are going through, but hey, isn't it great that he renamed Lake Ontario?

It almost seems like Donald Trump is actually trying to lose the midterms.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant