"Keep the Majority at All Costs": Trump’s Redistricting Power Play in Indiana

Paul Riverbank, 12/2/2025Trump pressures Indiana GOP for all-Republican districts, igniting local rifts and national redistricting drama.

At first glance, the fight over congressional maps in Indiana could look like just another squabble between rival parties. Look closer, though, and the situation’s more tangled. Republicans control both chambers in the legislature—yet even with the same party in both rooms, pressure and discord keep bubbling. Not least because the biggest push for change hasn’t come from within Indiana’s borders, but from Mar-a-Lago’s most prominent resident.

Former President Donald Trump, blunt as always, fired off a call for Indiana to “keep the Majority at all costs.” Statehouse regulars say the message was received with no small measure of exasperation from local leadership, facing a barrage of phone calls and, in a few cases, more menacing threats—including at least one swatting incident that left lawmakers rattled and State Police patrolling the halls more closely than in past years.

Right now, Indiana sends seven Republicans and two Democrats to the U.S. House. The proposal on the table aims to produce a 9-0 sweep for the GOP—an eye-popping ambition, even for a state as reliably red as this one. The changes are dramatic: central Indianapolis, currently a single district anchored by Democratic Rep. André Carson, would be sliced into four separate districts. “It’s clear these orders are coming from Washington, and they clearly don’t know the first thing about our community,” Carson told reporters, visibly annoyed as he leafed through an early draft of the new map.

Meanwhile, the northwestern corner—traditionally safe Democratic ground—inches closer to uncertainty. Clusters of Republican-majority counties now surround Gary and East Chicago, deliberately blurring older boundaries. For many residents, who grew up seeing familiar names on their ballots, these changes feel abrupt and arbitrary.

But while reporters huddled with House Speaker Todd Huston near the rotunda, pressure was building in the Senate. Senator Rodric Bray, a Republican, had publicly warned this scheme lacked enough support to pass. Then Trump posted a blistering message online, threatening primary challenges for anyone standing in his way. Days later, Bray quietly reversed course: the Senate would take up whatever map the House delivered.

This is hardly playing out in a vacuum. Groups like Club for Growth, led by former Indiana congressman David McIntosh, have thrown financial muscle behind the Trump-backed plan. Governor Mike Braun, himself trying to hold together a raucous state GOP ahead of a presidential year, voiced cautious support—but even that wasn’t good enough for Trump, who lobbed another shot on social media, daring Braun to “produce” or risk standing alone as the only failed Republican governor on this issue.

Other states are watching, but they’re hardly sitting on the sidelines. Redistricting is heating up across the country, sometimes with legal fireworks. In Texas, one federal court slapped a temporary halt on the new Republican-drawn plan. California’s leaders, meanwhile, are gunning for five more Democratic seats—and voters just handed the legislature the pen, bypassing their citizens’ redistricting commission for the first time in a generation. Virginia, Ohio, Missouri—each state has its own pressures, but the stakes are unmistakably national.

For many ordinary Hoosiers, the debate feels strangely distant, even as lawmakers’ social media feeds fill with invective. “Who even drew these lines?” a resident in Hammond asked during a public forum, shaking his head at a wall-sized map. But back in the capital, the timelines have shrunk. House Speaker Huston assures that all business, including the new congressional map, will move quickly; the Senate promises not to drag its feet.

Perhaps the clearest signal about what’s at stake comes from Trump himself: the 2018 midterms, when map changes gave Democrats control of the House, remain a bitter memory for him. This time, he’s determined to rewrite the ending—and Indiana is merely the latest theater in a sprawling national drama. As lawmakers debate, protestors loiter in the halls, and leaders field phone calls from both the White House and grassroots groups, the sense of urgency hangs in the muggy Indiana air.

The lines on these new maps do more than shape a few districts. They preview the fights looming in 2026 and set the tone for how each party will define “fairness” in American politics for years to come. For now, Indiana’s lawmakers move briskly, eyes on each other—and on the next shoe to drop from somewhere far outside their state lines.

Indiana’s Statehouse isn’t usually the kind of place that draws a national spotlight. But on a humid morning in Indianapolis, with the scent of coffee and nerves in the corridors, lawmakers returned to a session already burdened by baggage—this time, the business on everyone’s mind was redistricting, and for once, the echoes reached from the Monument Circle all the way to Washington.At first glance, the fight over congressional maps in Indiana could look like just another squabble between rival parties. Look closer, though, and the situation’s more tangled. Republicans control both chambers in the legislature—yet even with the same party in both rooms, pressure and discord keep bubbling. Not least because the biggest push for change hasn’t come from within Indiana’s borders, but from Mar-a-Lago’s most prominent resident.Former President Donald Trump, blunt as always, fired off a call for Indiana to “keep the Majority at all costs.” Statehouse regulars say the message was received with no small measure of exasperation from local leadership, facing a barrage of phone calls and, in a few cases, more menacing threats—including at least one swatting incident that left lawmakers rattled and State Police patrolling the halls more closely than in past years.Right now, Indiana sends seven Republicans and two Democrats to the U.S. House. The proposal on the table aims to produce a 9-0 sweep for the GOP—an eye-popping ambition, even for a state as reliably red as this one. The changes are dramatic: central Indianapolis, currently a single district anchored by Democratic Rep. André Carson, would be sliced into four separate districts. “It’s clear these orders are coming from Washington, and they clearly don’t know the first thing about our community,” Carson told reporters, visibly annoyed as he leafed through an early draft of the new map.Meanwhile, the northwestern corner—traditionally safe Democratic ground—inches closer to uncertainty. Clusters of Republican-majority counties now surround Gary and East Chicago, deliberately blurring older boundaries. For many residents, who grew up seeing familiar names on their ballots, these changes feel abrupt and arbitrary.But while reporters huddled with House Speaker Todd Huston near the rotunda, pressure was building in the Senate. Senator Rodric Bray, a Republican, had publicly warned this scheme lacked enough support to pass. Then Trump posted a blistering message online, threatening primary challenges for anyone standing in his way. Days later, Bray quietly reversed course: the Senate would take up whatever map the House delivered.This is hardly playing out in a vacuum. Groups like Club for Growth, led by former Indiana congressman David McIntosh, have thrown financial muscle behind the Trump-backed plan. Governor Mike Braun, himself trying to hold together a raucous state GOP ahead of a presidential year, voiced cautious support—but even that wasn’t good enough for Trump, who lobbed another shot on social media, daring Braun to “produce” or risk standing alone as the only failed Republican governor on this issue.Other states are watching, but they’re hardly sitting on the sidelines. Redistricting is heating up across the country, sometimes with legal fireworks. In Texas, one federal court slapped a temporary halt on the new Republican-drawn plan. California’s leaders, meanwhile, are gunning for five more Democratic seats—and voters just handed the legislature the pen, bypassing their citizens’ redistricting commission for the first time in a generation. Virginia, Ohio, Missouri—each state has its own pressures, but the stakes are unmistakably national.For many ordinary Hoosiers, the debate feels strangely distant, even as lawmakers’ social media feeds fill with invective. “Who even drew these lines?” a resident in Hammond asked during a public forum, shaking his head at a wall-sized map. But back in the capital, the timelines have shrunk. House Speaker Huston assures that all business, including the new congressional map, will move quickly; the Senate promises not to drag its feet.Perhaps the clearest signal about what’s at stake comes from Trump himself: the 2018 midterms, when map changes gave Democrats control of the House, remain a bitter memory for him. This time, he’s determined to rewrite the ending—and Indiana is merely the latest theater in a sprawling national drama. As lawmakers debate, protestors loiter in the halls, and leaders field phone calls from both the White House and grassroots groups, the sense of urgency hangs in the muggy Indiana air.The lines on these new maps do more than shape a few districts. They preview the fights looming in 2026 and set the tone for how each party will define “fairness” in American politics for years to come. For now, Indiana’s lawmakers move briskly, eyes on each other—and on the next shoe to drop from somewhere far outside their state lines.