As President-elect Trump begins his second term in the White House, there are only a few days left in his term as a candidate.
But even if he is term-limited and his name does not appear on the ballot, Trump will play a “significant” role in supporting Republican candidates in the 2026 midterm elections, Republicans said. Michael Whatley, chairman of the national committee, said:
“President Trump is going to play a very important role in this issue because at the end of the day, all we have to do is keep the House and the Senate and complete the president’s term and policies. It’s about making sure we can do it,” Whatley stressed in a recent interview with Fox News Digital at RNC headquarters in the nation’s capital.
Last month’s elections saw a landslide victory for Republicans, with Trump defeating Vice President Kamala Harris to take back the White House, Republicans wresting control of the Senate from Democrats, and Republicans retaining a slim majority in the House of Representatives.
Vance is likely to be the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, but the RNC chairman also likes the party’s “bench.”
President-elect Trump speaks during a press conference at the Mar-a-Lago Club on Monday, December 16, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP/Evan Vucci)
“As we move into the next election cycle, the fundamentals will remain the same,” Whatley argued.
“We need to build state parties, build ground forces, and build an honest system of elections to ensure candidates get through in the 2020 primaries.” We will be in a position to take them to the line,” he stressed.
House Republican Campaign Committee Chairman predicts 2026
However, parties in power traditionally experience setbacks in subsequent midterm elections. And Trump, who attracted turnout in this year’s election, will not be on the ballot in 2026.
“Donald Trump is going to be very active in the Republican campaign, and his policies are the same as the policies we’re going to implement,” Whatley predicted.
Former President Trump departs for a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport on September 7, 2024 in Mosinee, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee have outperformed the Trump campaign and the RNC so far this cycle, but the party’s imminent control of the White House will make Republicans even more competitive in the midterm campaign finance race. Mr. Whatley is convinced that he is deaf.
“I’m very excited about where we are with the fundraising we’ve done throughout this cycle and what’s to come,” he said.
Senate Republican Campaign Committee Chairman talks about mission in 2026
Whatley’s message to donors: “We succeeded in putting Donald Trump in the White House, and we need to maintain majorities in the House and Senate to advance his policies.” Ta.
He also pushed back against the RNC and Trump campaign’s relentless pursuit of their ground campaign efforts during the general election.
“We focused very much on low-propensity voters. This was a completely new system that we introduced during this election period. It worked very well,” he stressed.
Looking ahead, he said, “lower propensity voters are still going to be very important to us in the midterm election cycle, so we’re going to continue to focus on building those kinds of programs.” Ta.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley is interviewed by Fox News Digital at RNC Headquarters in Washington, DC on December 12, 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
“We also focused on reaching out to communities that the Republican Party has not traditionally reached, such as Black voters, Hispanic voters, and Asian American voters. That’s why these “We were able to see such a dramatic shift towards Donald Trump compared to areas where the bloc has traditionally supported.” Because we were talking to all American voters, we also saw a big shift among younger voters and women voters. Our ground battle was very important. ”
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Whatley was interviewed earlier this month, a week after President Trump asked him to continue as RNC chairman.
In March, after securing the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, President Trump nominated Whatley to replace Ronna McDaniel as RNC chair. Mr. Whatley is a longtime ally of the former president and a key supporter of Mr. Trump’s election integrity efforts, having served as general counsel for the RNC and chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party.
Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter based in New Hampshire.
