US President Donald Trump has cautioned Republican lawmakers that failure to secure victory in the 2026 congressional midterm elections could expose his administration to renewed impeachment efforts by Democrats and derail his policy agenda.
Trump issued the warning on Tuesday while speaking to GOP lawmakers during a party retreat in Washington, urging unity and electoral focus ahead of the high-stakes vote. He argued that losing control of Congress would embolden Democrats to launch investigations and revive impeachment proceedings against him.
“We have to win the midterms,” Trump told the gathering. “If we don’t, they’ll come up with something else to impeach me over. I’ll be right back there again.” He stressed that maintaining Republican majorities was essential to protecting his presidency and advancing legislation.
Republicans currently control the US House of Representatives by a slim margin, a situation Trump said significantly weakens the party’s leverage in Congress. He noted that Speaker Mike Johnson’s ability to enforce party discipline and push through legislation is constrained by the narrow numerical advantage. “You can’t be tough when you’re only up by three seats,” he said.
The president called on Republicans to set aside internal divisions and focus on promoting party positions on issues such as gender policy, healthcare reform, and election integrity. He encouraged lawmakers to clearly communicate how Republican policies would help Americans struggling with rising living costs, even as he acknowledged the historical trend of sitting presidents losing congressional seats during midterm elections.
“They always say when you win the White House, you lose the midterms,” Trump remarked. “I still don’t understand how the public thinks that way.”
While touching only briefly on inflation, Trump placed blame on Democrats for economic challenges and urged Republicans to highlight positive developments in the US stock market as evidence of economic progress under his leadership.
Trump also dismissed criticism related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, minimizing its significance as Democrats marked the fifth anniversary of the incident and accused Republicans of attempting to downplay or rewrite the events of that day.
The Republican retreat was held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which Trump claimed had recently been renamed to include his own name following changes to the institution’s board. During an unscripted speech that lasted more than an hour, he made several claims disputed by official records, including assertions that Washington, DC, had gone months without a single homicide. He nonetheless predicted that Republicans would achieve what he described as an “epic” victory in the 2026 midterms.
Trump also expressed frustration with party members he accused of resisting unity and called on conservatives to adopt a more pragmatic approach on certain policy matters. These included healthcare subsidies tied to the Affordable Care Act and the Hyde Amendment, which limits federal funding for abortion.
“All of these are important issues,” Trump told lawmakers, “but healthcare is something you can own. Work it out.”
In the November 2026 elections, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and one-third of the US Senate will be up for grabs. Historically, no sitting president has managed to avoid losing House seats in the midterms since George W. Bush in 2006.
Trump was impeached twice during his first term in office but was acquitted by the Senate on both occasions. Reiterating his long-held position, he dismissed those proceedings as baseless. “I was impeached twice for nothing,” he said.
Despite his warnings, some House Democrats have already introduced articles of impeachment during Trump’s second term, allegations the White House has firmly rejected.
0 Comments