Despite his landslide victory over Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump says things are not looking good for the Republican Party in the 2026 midterm elections.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump shockingly admitted he’s not sure whether Republicans will prevail in the midterm elections next year and hold onto control of the House of Representatives.
“We’ll see what happens. We should win. But, you know, statistically, it’s very tough to win. Yeah, it doesn’t make sense,” Trump said.
“All we’re going to do is, we’re going to try our best to win.”
Historically, the numbers do not favor the Republican Party as generally the party in control of the White House loses seats in the House during the midterm elections.
The GOP currently holds a very slim majority in the lower chamber, meaning if history is any indicator, the Democrats are often favored to regain control.
There have only been two instances since World War II when the party in control of the White House has actually gained House seats during the midterms.
However, despite the doom and gloom, Trump has a path to change history.
Trump has mounted a pressure campaign to get red-state Republicans to engage in rare mid-decennial redistricting to make congressional district borders more favorable to the GOP.
To date, many political analysts believe the redistricting race that has ensued has made significant end roads, but Trump is still pressuring states such as Indiana to redraw their maps.
Along with redistricting, another major issue looming large for Republicans in the midterm elections is the US Supreme Court’s forthcoming decision on a challenge to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, something that could upend the use of race-based redistricting in the South.
If the Supreme Court upends Section 2, it could be a significant boon for Republicans, according to experts.
Trump also indicated in his interview that next year will bring better economic news and potentially boosting the GOP’s chances among voters.
He noted that some experts believe the hundreds of billions of dollars worth of investments he’s attracted will kick in around the second quarter of next year.
“I won’t have anybody on the Federal Reserve that, when you have good news, that means you automatically raise interest rates through the roof in order to kill inflation,” Trump added.
During Trump’s first term and the 2024 campaign cycle, the economy was consistently one of his strongest issues.
But new polling suggests that positive view has dipped during his second term, with unemployment higher, slow job growth and overall uncertainty over tariffs.
On average, Trump’s approval rating is -9.3 percentage points, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate.
Despite the less-than-favorable polling, Trump said he is optimistic that economic conditions would become more positive by the time he would have to hit the campaign trail to help Republicans in the midterm elections.
“I think by the time we have to talk about the election, which is in another few months, I think our prices are in good shape,” Trump told the WSJ.
“I’ve created the greatest economy in history. But it may take people a while to figure all these things out.”
“All this money that’s pouring into our country is building things right now — car plants, AI, lots of stuff,” Trump said.
“I cannot tell you how that’s going to equate to the voter. All I can do is do my job.”
According to the New York Post, Trump and his team have made clear he plans to play a heavy role in garnering votes for Republicans next year.