The midterm elections are on everyone’s mind, which means Republicans have reached a crossroads. On one side, pressure from President Donald Trump to change election rules before any ballots are cast poses a threat to our Democracy. But defying his demands could trigger an avalanche of fallout onto anyone daring to call him out.
Suggested Reading
…Take a guess at which route most of the GOP is choosing.
Trump loudly laid out the stakes in this upcoming election. “You got to win the midterms, because if we don’t win the midterms, it’s just going to be — I mean, they’ll find a reason to impeach me,” Trump said in a recent speech. “I’ll get impeached.”
With a third impeachment on his mind, the president is feeling the pressure of the upcoming election. This means he’ll do whatever he can to secure GOP seats in Congress — even if that means disregarding all of the political norms.
Already, GOP leaders have faced massive criticism for redistricting efforts in multiple states. The president has been nudging leaders in Texas, Missouri and other states to redraw their voting maps and ignore the 10-year Census policy. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a new map will bring “fairer representation in the United States Congress for Texans,” in a 2025 social media announcement.
The redistricting effort seems to be Trump’s “Plan A,” but already Democratic states like California have passed legislation —Proposition 50 — to combat the gerrymandering. Still, this isn’t the Trump administration’s only attempt ahead of the elections.
The president previously pledged to end all mail-in voting after losing to former President Joe Biden in 2020. Although he hasn’t specified plans to do so, Trump’s attack on mail-in ballots would impact voting laws in every single state. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a case in Mississippi to address the ballot issue, according to NPR.
This is, of course, all on top of Trump’s executive order on new standards for voting equipment — while no machines meeting these qualifications are available months before the elections, the Washington Post reported.
“I’m concerned about chaos and uncertainty in the administration of the 2026 election,” Nathaniel Persily, a Stanford Law School professor, told the Post. “There is a kind of avalanche of potential changes that are being proposed, and it’s at a time when people have lost trust in the election infrastructure and everybody’s on edge.”
We previously told you the president’s approval rate is rapidly falling. If you expand how Americans feel about the entire government… the results are even worse. Only 17 percent of Americans say they trust the government, according to a study from Pew Research. It’s not shocking Americans have critiques of the U.S. government, but Trump should be worried about exactly what voters plan to do about their disapproval come election time.
After Trump’s whirlwind of executive actions and controversial policies, the nation is divided more than ever. The past November election resulted in a blue wave, which Democrats can recreate come November… But first, they have to get through all of the barriers Trump has set ahead.
Straight From 
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.