Trump warns of third impeachment if House Republicans lose midterms
President Donald Trump has huddled with House Republicans in a session that was billed as aligning their agenda at the start of a crucial midterm election year
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned that Democrats would “find a reason to impeach me” if the GOP lost control of Congress — using the prediction to pressure lawmakers to unify behind a narrow set of electoral priorities to win the 2026 midterm elections.
“You got to win the midterms, because if we don’t win the midterms, they’ll find a reason to impeach me,” Trump said. “I’ll get impeached.”
The remark was a rare acknowledgment of Trump’s political vulnerability as Republicans prepare to face a Democratic Party buoyed by a string of off-year election victories, favorable polling, and voter anxiety over an economy now fully under Trump’s stewardship. The warning framed the midterms not only as a referendum on his agenda, but as a test of his legacy.
Trump addressed the representatives at the start of an all-day policy forum for House Republicans inside the Kennedy Center, a performing arts building recently renamed in his honor. The setting in the heart of Washington underscored how far Trump has come since Jan. 6, 2021, exactly five years ago, when rioters stormed the Capitol and set off years of criminal prosecution and political isolation.
In an address meant to energize his party, Trump conceded that his agenda has struggled to break through with voters. He complained that Americans had quickly moved past his record on illegal immigration and that the press had paid little attention to his push to pressure drug companies to cut prices, which has yielded wins, albeit limited, for some consumers.
He urged House Republicans to focus their messaging on drug prices, transgender athletes in women’s sports and cracking down on violent crime — issues he argued could sharpen contrasts with Democrats and mobilize voters ahead of 2026. And he instructed Republicans to set internal disputes aside and focus on a disciplined message he believes can carry them in November.
He also used the moment to defend Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), who has struggled to manage an ideologically divided conference with a razor-thin majority without Trump’s interference.
“He’s as tough as anybody in the room actually,” the president said. “But you can’t be tough when you have a majority of three.”
“You can’t be Trump,” he said, appearing to mock his own confrontational style. “You make 10 enemies, 20 enemies and that’s the end of that.”
The endorsement came at a critical moment for Johnson, who is trying to unify his unruly conference behind a second legislative package after passing a sweeping tax and immigration effort — dubbed by Trump the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Trump also urged House Republicans to reclaim healthcare from the Democrats as a political issue and to pass a voting ID law, while urging conservatives to remain “flexible on Hyde” a signal to lawmakers who have stalled negotiations over abortion language.
“You got to be a little flexible. You got to work something,” Trump said. “We’re all big fans of everything but you got to have flexibility.”
Since returning to the presidency, Trump has continued to minimize the violence of the riot, calling the insurrection “a day of love” and ultimately fulfilling his promise to pardon participants charged with misdemeanors and felonies. On Tuesday, he again downplayed his role.
Across town, House Democrats marked the anniversary with a hearing featuring lawmakers, Capitol Police officers and Pamela Hemphill, a rioter who entered the Capitol and later rejected a pardon from Trump.
“Once I got away from the MAGA cult and started educating myself about January the 6th, I knew what I did was wrong,” she said. “When Donald Trump pardoned us I rejected the pardon. Accepting that pardon would be lying about what happened on January 6. I am guilty.”
Republicans meanwhile refocused on their agenda Tuesday, which the party is seeking to anchor on Trump’s economic agenda. That effort has been complicated by his decision to deploy U.S. forces to Venezuela and seize control of the country’s oil assets, a move that has resonated with some hawkish Republicans and members of both parties critical of Nicolás Maduro, but concerned others who fear the president’s “America First” base will lose patience with his interventionism.
Trump argued the action would lower energy costs.
“Got a lot of oil to drill,” he said.
Trump’s address lasted for more than an hour and included everything from jokes about FDR’s disability to an aside about first lady Melania Trump’s distaste for his dance moves.
“I think I gave you something,” he concluded. “It’s just a road map. It’s a road map to victory.”