Trump warns Republicans they have to win midterms or he'll 'get impeached'
President Donald Trump warned Republican members of Congress on Tuesday that if they don't win in this year's midterms, then he will "get impeached."
Trump made the comments during a House GOP retreat at the Kennedy Center, recently renamed to include Trump's name by a board filled with his appointees.
"You got to win the midterms because if we don't win the midterms, it's just going to be -- I mean, they'll find a reason to impeach me. I'll get impeached," the president said.
Trump was impeached two times during his first term. In 2019, he was impeached on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for allegedly pressuring Ukraine's president to interfere in the 2020 election. The second impeachment came during his final days in office after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with lawmakers charging him with incitement of insurrection. Trump was acquitted in the Senate both times.
"I got impeached twice on nothing," Trump argued on Tuesday, which was the five-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack.
With the 2026 elections on the horizon, President Trump said he believes Republican policy is better than the Democratic Party's platform but acknowledged the headwinds the president's party typically faces in a midterm cycle.
"They say that when you win the presidency, you lose the midterm. So, you're all brilliant people. Most of you are in this business longer than me. That makes me smarter than you, because look where I am right? No, it doesn't. But I wish you could, explain to me what the hell's going on with the mind of the public. Because we have a -- we have the right policy. They don't. They have a horrible policy. They do stick together," Trump said.
"They had the worst president, did the worst job. They had the worst policy. We have to even run against these people. Now, I won't say cancel the election, they should cancel the election, because the fake news will say, 'He wants the elections canceled. He's a dictator.' They always call me a dictator," Trump said as he continued to criticize former Democratic presidents.
In his remarks, Trump also alluded to the GOP's slim majority in the House, which is now a two-vote margin after the unexpected death of California Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa and Republican Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene's early retirement on Monday. Though the president did offer a full-throated endorsement of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who was in attendance.
"A lot of times they'll say, 'I wish Mike were tougher.' Tougher? He’s tough as anybody in the room, actually. But you can't be tough when you have a majority of three. And now, sadly, a little bit less than that. I mean, a little bit less than that, maybe," Trump said.
Trump talks health care, advises GOP to be flexible on abortion restrictions
With health care expected to be a major focus of this year's elections after enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies expired at the end of 2025, Trump continued to criticize the ACA (also known as Obamacare) and advised Republicans to be flexible on abortion restrictions.
Trump reiterated his preference to pay Americans directly so they can buy their own health care and health insurance.
"Let the money go in a health care account or however you do it. Let the money go directly to the people," he told lawmakers.
The president then pivoted to the Hyde Amendment, a decades-old provision that bars federal funding from going to abortion services.
"Now, you have to be a little flexible on Hyde, you know that. You got to be a little flexible. You got to work something. You've got to use ingenuity. You've got to work. We are all big fans of everything, but you've got to be flexible," Trump said.
It is unclear exactly how Trump wants Republicans to be "flexible" on that issue.
