US President Donald Trump has told Republican lawmakers that his presidency would face immediate impeachment risk if the party fails to retain control of Congress in the November midterm elections, turning the vote into a referendum on his political survival. The remarks were delivered during a closed-door House Republican retreat at Washington’s Kennedy Center, where Trump addressed party leaders on the strategic consequences of losing the lower chamber. The WP Times reports this, citing The Hill.
“You have to win the midterms. Because if we don’t win the midterms, they will find a reason to impeach me. I will be impeached,” Trump told the conference, according to the publication. He accused Democrats of weaponising impeachment for political purposes, adding: “We don’t impeach them, because you know why? They’re meaner than we are. We should have impeached Joe Biden for a hundred different things.”
Trump went on to describe Democrats as “mean and smart” in their political tactics, while reiterating his long-standing criticism of their policy agenda and use of congressional power.
Republicans warned impeachment would follow loss of the House
The warning was reinforced by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who issued a similar message to conservative activists at Turning Point USA’s America Fest in Arizona late last month. Johnson said that if Republicans lose their House majority, Democrats would immediately move to remove Trump from office.
“If we lose the House majority, the radical left — as you’ve already heard — is going to impeach President Trump,” Johnson said. “They’re going to create absolute chaos. We cannot let that happen.”
The midterm elections will take place in November, halfway through Trump’s second presidential term. All 435 seats in the US House of Representatives will be contested, along with 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate. Control of the House is particularly significant because impeachment proceedings can only be initiated by a simple majority vote in the lower chamber.
Democrats currently do not hold enough seats to begin impeachment proceedings on their own, but a change in control after the midterms would give them the legal authority to launch formal investigations and impeachment votes.
Why impeachment is again at the centre of US politics
Trump has already been impeached twice. The first impeachment took place in 2019, after Democrats won control of the House. It was triggered by a phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Democrats alleged Trump had pressured Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son. Trump was charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress but was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate.
The second impeachment followed the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, when supporters of Trump stormed the building as Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s election victory. Trump was accused of inciting insurrection after repeatedly claiming the election had been stolen. He was impeached by the House but again acquitted by the Senate, which did not reach the two-thirds majority required for conviction.
In recent days, impeachment threats have resurfaced after some Democrats raised concerns about a US military and intelligence operation targeting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Following the operation, several Democratic lawmakers argued that the actions taken by the Trump administration may have violated constitutional or legal limits on presidential power.
Representative April McClain-Delaney of Maryland said the issue had reached a point where impeachment could no longer be ruled out.
“These individual actions are impeachable offences in their own right, but their ever-mounting cumulative impact on our country’s stability and health puts everything in a new light,” she said. “I now believe that our Democratic caucus must imminently consider impeachment proceedings.”
The combination of Trump’s remarks, Johnson’s warnings and renewed Democratic pressure has placed the midterm elections at the centre of the political battle over whether Trump will face a third impeachment process in Congress.
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