Donald Trump’s plan to remove a black congressman hits a court roadblock. Then he launches a fiery response: ‘Horrible, ridiculous’
Some lines are easier to draw than they are to keep
Donald Trump has pushed Republicans to redraw congressional maps ahead of the midterms, hoping to give the Grand Old Party (GOP) a better chance of keeping control of the House. But in Missouri, one of those efforts has hit a major court roadblock, putting a seat Republicans hoped to flip back in Democratic hands for now.
The fight centers on Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, whose Kansas City district was redrawn by Missouri Republicans in 2025 as part of Trump’s larger redistricting push. According to MS NOW, the new map split up Cleaver’s reliably Democratic 5th Congressional District, potentially giving Republicans a much better chance of taking the longtime Black congressman’s seat.
Now, the map has been blocked from being used in the fall midterms. The Missouri Supreme Court sided with opponents who wanted voters to decide its future through a statewide vote. The fight comes as Black representation has become a major issue in battles over congressional maps across the country. Trump made it clear he was not happy with the result.
So what happened to Trump’s Missouri map?
Missouri Republicans passed the new congressional map in September 2025. One of its biggest changes involved Cleaver’s 5th Congressional District, which includes parts of Kansas City and has long been a safe seat for Democrats.
Cleaver, a former Kansas City mayor and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, has represented the area for more than two decades. The new boundaries divided his district and added more Republican-leaning areas, making the seat much more competitive for the GOP.
That could have been important nationally. Republicans currently hold six of Missouri’s eight House seats, and taking Cleaver’s district could have increased that advantage to seven. With Republicans trying to protect a narrow House majority in November, even one additional seat could make a difference.
But opponents of the map collected more than 300,000 signatures in an effort to put the new boundaries before Missouri voters. Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected the effort, arguing that the referendum process could not be used to challenge congressional redistricting.
On Sept. 3, the Missouri Supreme Court disagreed. It ruled that the referendum petition was valid and had been submitted on time. That stopped the new Republican map from being used in the November midterms and put Missouri’s older congressional boundaries back in place.
The decision also created an unusual election situation. Missouri already held its August primary using the Republican-drawn map. That means the state held its primary under one set of district lines but will use different boundaries for the general election.
Trump quickly attacked the ruling. He called the decision “horrible, ridiculous, and unConstitutional” and described it as a “Dark Day for ‘Justice’ in Missouri!”
Hoskins was also critical, saying in a statement that the decision would “ignite nothing short of a Constitutional crisis.” Republicans then continued their legal fight in an effort to get the new map restored before November.
Cleaver had a very different response. “They brought this on themselves,” he said during an appearance on “State of Play” with Peter Alexander. “Look, blaming others will not make Missouri great again.”
The fight eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court. On Sept. 10, the justices blocked Missouri from using the Republican-drawn map for the November election, leaving the older congressional boundaries in place.
For Cleaver, that means he will face voters under the older district lines rather than the map Republicans hoped would make his seat easier to flip. Missouri voters will still have a chance to decide the future of the disputed map, but it will not give Republicans the extra advantage they wanted in this fall’s fight for control of the House.
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