Is embracing Trump a win for his Kansas politician superfans in 2026? | Opinion

Behold the Trump phone.

It made its debut online in 2025, a vision of gold-plated sleekness and bleeding-edge technology. Patriots were invited to preorder the device to show their support for “American-proud” wireless technology and their favorite president of all time.

The phone landed with a thud in May. Tech reviewers panned the device, noting its distressingly urine-soaked color and mysterious inner workings. The phone was smaller and a different model from those 2025 website mockups. On the plus side, recipients noted, it did function as a phone and came preinstalled with Trump’s Truth Social application.

In short, it was a classic bait and switch from the bait-iest and switch-iest of leaders. Promise your fans the world, then shove the bare minimum in their general direction when time runs out.

This suffocating mixture of hyped hyperbole and too-real reality has been on sharp display in Kansas politics lately, as various political figures have shown themselves as mustard yellow rather than glittering gold. They’re all, in their own ways, Trump phones.

Let’s start with Senate President Ty Masterson, who notched Trump’s endorsement in the Republican gubernatorial race on May 24.

Masterson gleefully responded: “President Trump transformed our country by fighting for secure borders, lower taxes, American energy dominance and putting working families first. In Kansas, I’ve taken that same approach — leading the fight to cut taxes, stand up to the left’s agenda and defend our values.”

But what does Trump‘s endorsement mean, anyway? You might remember the last two Republicans whom Trump endorsed for governor: Kris Kobach in 2018 and Derek Schmidt in 2022. While both men landed on their feet as state attorney general and 2nd District congressman, respectively, Laura Kelly trounced both at the ballot box.

Ascent of Pat Proctor?

Trump’s endorsement might clear the runway for Masterson in the Republican primary. It might. But the Trump of 2026 appears far different to me from the Trump of four or eight years ago. For one thing, his national approval rating stands at 38.6%. In ruby red Kansas, a fall 2025 survey found satisfaction with his performance at 43.5%.

Most of the time, politicians don’t celebrate receiving the endorsement of someone so widely loathed.

But never mind! Masterson thinks he’s just the man Kansas needs. As long as you don’t expect him to pass an off-year redistricting plan or meaningful property tax relief. You can put those out of your mind once and for all.

Do you see where I’m going with the Trump phone thing?

Further apt news arrived Friday, when state Rep. Ken Rahjes of Agra joined Secretary of State Scott Schwab’s Republican gubernatorial campaign. Schwab has done a notably nonconspiratorial job as secretary of state, and Rahjes has served affably enough.

The person that announcement really benefited, though, was Leavenworth state Rep. Pat Proctor, who lost his main opponent in the Republican contest to succeed Schwab as secretary of state.

Kansas Reflector has written frequently about the colorful Proctor. Suffice to say, his approach to the job promises to be much different from Schwab’s. As chair of the House Elections Committee, Proctor espoused legislation that would make it more challenging for Kansans to vote while putting a thumb on the scale for right wing Republican candidates.

Proctor has taken to responding to questions from the news media with such over-the-top pronouncements as: “Here’s a quote for you: You are a partisan hack and your so-called ‘newspaper’ is a woke, leftist propaganda rag. Thanks for the opportunity to comment.”

That sounds like someone who has found inspiration in the rhetoric of Donald “Fake News” Trump. Good for him. Bad for Kansans who just want to make their voices heard in statewide elections. Looks like they received the brick of a Trump phone instead.

The return of Mike Brown

Finally, Kansas shipped its own questionable piece of merchandise off to Washington, D.C.

News arrived May 28 that the U.S. Treasury has been avidly pursuing the prospect of putting Trump’s face on a $250 bill. Never mind that federal law prohibits living people from appearing on currency — for now. No, political appointees have pressured the Treasury to find some way to make this (absolutely not about Trump’s ego) move a reality.

Read two paragraphs into the Washington Post story on the bill and you’ll spot a familiar name.

Yes, that’s former Kansas Republican Party chairman Mike Brown, who now serves as acting director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. You might remember Brown’s tenure as state Republican chair from his deranged weekly newsletters and his appearance at a fundraiser where donors could beat an effigy of President Joe Biden.

That $250 bill might sound like small potatoes, given everything else going on in this country, but it stands as a final reminder that we’re all sentenced to endure dubious, urine-yellow politics for the foreseeable future.

Clay Wirestone is opinion editor of the nonprofit Kansas Reflector where this commentary originally appeared.