President Donald Trump threatened to veto every piece of legislation put forward during the second half of his administration if Democrats flip control of the House or Senate during next month’s midterm elections.
“Well, I think the Republicans are going to win. But if there was, you call it gridlock, what happens is I veto everything,” Trump told reporters Friday morning while speaking on the South Lawn. “And then the Democrats come and they want to make a deal. So we’ll work it out.”
Historical precedent and polling data suggest Democrats are on the cusp of flipping at least the House next month and possibly the Senate, due to public frustration over the Iran war and high costs of living.
Trump is traveling to Fort Myers, Florida, on Friday, where he is scheduled to rally for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), the Republican gubernatorial nominee. The president has been on a nonstop tour across the nation to boost turnout for Republicans.
Several election forecasters have updated their predictions in favor of Democrats crossing the 218-seat threshold to take back the House. But the GOP is hoping that Trump’s tour could help save the Senate as Democrats attempt to make inroads in deep-red states such as Texas, Iowa, Kansas, and Alaska.
“So we’ll work it out,” Trump said. “I mean, if you look historically, when you have a situation where that would happen, if it happens, you veto, veto, veto, and then they come and they say, how do we get it done? And you make a deal.”
The president’s first administration was marked by several high-profile clashes with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, including the launch of the first impeachment trial against Trump.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), widely expected to become the next House speaker if Democrats control the chamber, has a somewhat adversarial relationship with Trump, who previously said he would “probably get along” with Jeffries. The two men have only met once during a September 2025 Oval Office meeting.
Democrats have not decided against impeaching Trump again, however. “We haven’t ruled anything out when it comes to all of the tools available to us to hold people accountable, and we haven’t ruled anything in,” Jeffries said last month. Several candidates in battleground races have said they oppose impeaching the president.
Democrats are also in the process of preparing an ambitious 100-day agenda, which includes reining in Trump’s Iran war if they regain the House.