(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump warned Republicans that Texas and Michigan are among the states the party is “worried about” ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, while speaking to voters in Oklahoma on Thursday.
Fresh off an event in Texas, Trump told a crowd in the reliably Republican state that he was not concerned about Oklahoma but that Republicans needed to turn out voters in other states.
“I feel a little foolish, you know. I’m saying, ‘go out and vote, go out and vote.’ You’re gonna, they’re gonna win in the last half, but still go out and vote,” Trump said. “But we’re not worried about them. We’re worried about Michigan. We’re worried about Texas. We’re worried about a few states.”
Trump later said Republicans need to get the word out about the midterms, citing what he described as 35 to 40 races that the party is concerned about.
“But we have to get the word out because we have to win in those 35. Maybe you could even say 40 places, 40 races,” Trump said. “You have many, you have hundreds of races, but it’s all about 40.”
Trump also again urged supporters to imagine that he himself was on the ballot.
“So you have to pretend I’m on the ticket and turn out for a midterm victory that’s really too big to rig,” Trump said.
Trump sought to rally Republicans by attacking Democrats over inflation and immigration, repeating claims about the number and backgrounds of migrants who entered the country during the Biden administration.
Trump has repeatedly made claims about millions of migrants entering the U.S. from prisons and mental institutions, but those claims have been disputed and are not supported by evidence showing that foreign governments emptied prisons or institutions and sent those people to the United States.
The president also said his administration was running the country well but criticized Republicans for what he called poor “public relations.”
ABC News’ Jon Haworth contributed to this report.
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