Donald Trump. Photo: AFP/DOUG MILLS/POOL
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Republicans must win the 2026 midterm elections or else he will get impeached by Democrats.
"You gotta win the midterms 'cause, if we don't win the midterms, it's just gonna be - I mean, they'll find a reason to impeach me," Trump said at a retreat for House Republican lawmakers in Washington. "I'll get impeached."
The president urged his fellow Republicans to fight in a more unified fashion on issues ranging from gender politics to healthcare and election reforms, and to sell his policies to a public angry about cost of living issues.
Trump's agenda is on the line in November's elections, when all the seats in the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate's seats will be contested.
During the speech, Trump predicted an epic win for Republicans in the elections but also expressed concerns about historical precedent that the party of the sitting president usually fares poorly.
"They say that when you win the presidency, you lose the midterm," Trump said at the Kennedy Center, a Washington performing arts centre that was recently renamed to include a mention of Trump. "I wish you could explain to me what the hell's going on with the mind of the public," Trump said.
House Republicans have shown enormous deference to Trump so far, ceding much of Congress' authority over spending and other matters to his administration. But they have started to show glimmers of independence. The House could vote this week to override a veto Trump issued last month that cancelled water projects in Colorado and Utah, though it is not clear whether the effort will get the two-thirds majority needed.
Trump was impeached twice by the Democratic-led House of Representatives during his 2017-2021 term in office, faulting him for what they said were abuses of power involving Ukraine and ahead of the 6 January, 2021, riot at the Capitol. The Republican-controlled Senate voted to acquit him in both cases.
- Reuters
