Inside the Trump White House's early 2026 midterm strategy

Donald Trump has historically bad poll numbers for a president through the first 100 days in office, but the White House’s 2026 midterms strategy will run through Trump himself while trying to re-create the energy behind his 2024 campaign.

Donald Trump has historically bad poll numbers for a president through the first 100 days in office, but the White House’s 2026 midterms strategy will run through Trump himself while trying to re-create the energy behind his 2024 campaign.

Republicans and top White House advisers generally believe the midterm maps are favorable to them in the Senate but more up in the air on the House side. But Trump’s lagging poll numbers — and what has become an unpopular, tariff-dominated economic policy, at least for now — have some Republicans concerned that both chambers could be at risk. 

The 2026 goal, according to nearly a dozen Republican operatives and Trump advisers NBC News interviewed, is to try to overcome negative economic sentiment by rekindling the energy Trump brings when he is on the ballot — a needed boost for the party after Democrats have outpaced Republicans in recent special congressional and state-level elections.

House and Senate leaders are already in close consultation with the White House about key candidates who would benefit from Trump's endorsement, both to navigate primaries and to gin up general election support. His political operation is banking millions of dollars in explicitly Trump-aligned political groups that will play heavily in the midterms alongside Republicans' party committees and principal congressional super PACs. And then, top Republicans expect the rest of the party to lean into Trump's message to make the best possible pitch to his supporters to vote in 2026.

“The push needs to be to push that energy. In some states his endorsement will be very beneficial, and it’s up to candidates to try and replicate his messaging to spur turnout,” said Rachel Reisner, a longtime Republican operative who worked for Trump’s 2024 campaign.