By Travis Gillmore
Contributing Writer
President Donald Trump on Tuesday urged Republican lawmakers to highlight and expand policy successes to secure control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, during a speech to the House GOP member retreat at the Trump Kennedy Center in Washington.
“Together, we had 12 months of unprecedented success in 2025, and now we’re going to make history and break records with the epic midterm victory that we’re going to pull off,” Trump said.
He cited traditional challenges facing incumbent parties in the midterms — with net losses in Congress for 20 of the past 22 presidencies, according to data compiled by the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Presidency Project.
“They say that when you win the presidency, you lose the midterm,” Trump told the audience, adding he wished someone would explain to him what’s “going on with the mind of the public, because we have the right policy.”
He contrasted his administration’s agenda — related to topics such as immigration, gender ideology, and health care, among others — with Democrats’ priorities.
“They are mean and smart, but, fortunately for you, they have horrible policy,” Trump said.
The president emphasized his health care proposal that seeks to redirect money to Americans rather than insurance companies, suggesting that Democrats — who receive more campaign donations from the insurance industry — are on the losing side of the topic.
“They’re going to try to fight you, but they can’t win the fight if you explain it; the money goes directly to the people,” Trump said. “That’s going to be your issue.”
He also pleaded with lawmakers to prioritize voter ID and integrity laws.
“You ought to insist on it,” Trump said, calling for a vote in Congress on a “Save America Act.”
He said mail-in voting is rife with fraud and called for an overhaul of federal election regulations.
“We’ve got to straighten this out before it gets too crazy,” Trump said, adding, “The only reason someone doesn’t want that is because they want to cheat.”
Congress should also look into the Biden administration and its use of the autopen to sign around “95%” of official documents, Trump said.
“You ought to make a big deal out of the autopen,” he said. “The autopen was your president, because most of the things were signed by autopen, and you’re not allowed to do that.”
Lower energy costs are another issue Republicans should run on, according to the president, who has repeatedly championed his “drill baby drill” policies.
He said national security is improving because of tariffs, which brought in approximately $650 billion in revenue last year.
The audience was thanked for their role in passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and for working together to pass legislation.
“That was not a big majority, but it’s a unified majority, and it’s people that know what it takes to make America great again,” Trump said.
If Democrats gain control of the House of Representatives, the Trump administration could face significant obstacles to progress, he noted.
“If we don’t win the midterms … they’ll find a reason to impeach me,” Trump said.
He dedicated the speech to Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., who died on Monday.
“A true defender of American children, he was a defender of everybody,” Trump said. “And our hearts go out to his wife, Jill, and his entire family.”
