President Trump is preparing to approach the November midterm elections as if he himself were on the ballot, deploying the full weight of the White House to protect Republican control of Congress by traveling extensively, pouring money into competitive races, and pressing the case that his policies have eased the cost-of-living squeeze for Americans, the NY Post reports.
“He’s going to campaign like it’s 2024,” Susie Wiles, Trump’s 2024 campaign co-chair who now serves as chief of staff, told The NY Post.
Senior advisers say the administration views holding the House and Senate as critical to preserving Trump’s authority and advancing his agenda during the remaining two years of his term.
Under the strategy, Trump intends to take a hands-on role on the campaign trail and regularly deploy Vice President JD Vance as a surrogate. Cabinet members will also fan out across the country to promote the administration’s record, according to senior officials who spoke with The Post.
The president’s first political trip of the year is scheduled for Tuesday in Iowa, where he plans to speak about economic and energy policy. Trump also continues to involve himself in primary contests, most recently endorsing Rep. Julia Letlow in her bid to challenge Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana’s Republican Senate primary.
Fundraising will be another pillar of the effort. A source said Trump is expected to help raise large sums that can be directed to closely contested Senate races in states such as Michigan, North Carolina, and Georgia. Control of the House, meanwhile, is expected to come down to roughly three dozen swing districts, including several in California and New York.
James Blair, who served as Trump’s 2024 political director, said the administration believes it has both achievements and organizational advantages that could upend the usual midterm pattern in which the president’s party loses ground.
“Since 2024 Republicans have been outperforming Democrats in voter registration in every state in the country,” he told The Post. “That’s a huge deal and has never been the case before. The number one indicator of how people are going to vote is what party they’re registering with.”
Blair said the objective for 2026 is straightforward: “I want to keep the House and keep the Senate. Even by one. One is a victory.”
Trump is expected to devote significant resources to that effort, including tapping into nearly $300 million held by his allied super PAC, MAGA Inc.
“He’s going to behave as though he is on the ballot. So that means some spending, that means a lot of travel, that means a lot of messaging help for candidates that need and want it,” Wiles said.
A central component of the plan is energizing Trump’s core supporters who helped return him to the White House, while framing the election around his effort to complete what he calls a “Golden Age” agenda and pointing to renewed Democratic talk of impeachment as a reason to turn out.
“All Republicans are not Trump voters, but the Trump voters are those who turn out. Our job is to motivate them to vote for President Trump to finish the job,” Wiles noted.
Blair said that focus is essential.
“Converting presidential voters into midterm voters is a core underlying challenge, but if we can substantially increase their participation, it will help all Republicans across the country. It’s something that we will certainly be setting out to do – it’s something that the president is very good at,” he said.
As Trump marks the anniversary of his inauguration, advisers say he is increasingly focused on his second year in office and on locking in a lasting legacy by keeping Republicans in control of Congress. A major part of that effort will be selling voters on what the administration says are concrete gains, including lower mortgage and credit card rates, cheaper prescription drugs, and reduced gas prices.
The president has made clear he is unhappy that those achievements have not resonated more strongly with the public.
“We didn’t do as good a job as the president would like us to do in what he calls PR, what I would call is just getting our message,” a senior administration official said.
Trump voiced that frustration Tuesday during a lengthy appearance in the White House briefing room, where aides distributed 31-page packets detailing accomplishments from his first year in office.
“We’ve done a much better job than we’re able to promote,” the president noted.
Wiles said the breadth of the administration’s work has made it harder to highlight individual successes.
“The first year has been full every day, full of a new accomplishment, a new victory that helps the American people. Now we have to tell the story better,” she said.
“What I want to be sure we do in the second year is go a level deeper. We accomplished so much in the first year. It’s very tangible. There’s the big, beautiful bill. There’s something for everyone. But now we have to go a little deeper,” she said.
Trump struck a similar note recently in Davos, where he promoted the strength of the U.S. economy before an audience of global business leaders.
“President Trump accomplished more in one year than many presidents did in eight,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Post. “The President delivered on every major campaign promise—securing the border, stopping Biden’s inflation crisis, signing the largest middle-class tax cuts in history, ending woke DEI nonsense, and restoring American strength on the world stage.”
History, however, suggests a steep climb for the party in power. Midterm elections often result in losses for the president’s party, and current polling reflects that challenge.
Democrats hold a four-point edge on the generic congressional ballot, according to the RealClearPolitics average, and party leaders are confident about their prospects, particularly in the House.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York previewed that message in November, saying: “As Democrats, we will continue to make clear to the American people that you deserve better, and that we’re focused on driving down the high cost of living, fixing our broken health care system, and cleaning up corruption in the Congress, in the courts and in the White House, so we can actually deliver an America of the people.”
A former Biden White House official dismissed the idea of centering the midterms around Trump.
“Best of luck!” said the longtime Democratic Party official and campaign aide.
“[Voters] are not going to let members [of Congress] slide on their price of electricity and groceries because Trump is pretending he is on the ballot.”
Republicans remain upbeat, arguing that their approach gives them an opening to win over voters on economic issues, which they believe will dominate the campaign.
“Six, seven months from now, when we’re really in the heated campaign season, we’re reasonably optimistic that the way people feel about the economy will be markedly improved, which will bolster the generic ballot and bolster our chances overall,” a senior administration official said.
The official added that Republicans are benefiting from internal cohesion, contending that they “are really pretty unified, all in all, and all rowing in the same direction, whereas the Democrats are very much involved in factional infighting that we don’t really suffer from.”
{Matzav.com}
