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(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump told Republican governors that implementing his agenda was key to their own political futures, arguing that embracing it could mitigate or even prevent losses in the midterm elections.

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“We’re going to fight very hard, because the better I do, the better you do,” Trump said. “It makes your races a lot easier if we do well, and we’re going to keep doing well.” 

Thursday’s meeting with Republican governors in Washington afforded the president an opportunity to reiterate his agenda to key allies in the states ahead of crucial gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey later this year, and in three dozen other states in 2026. Every seat in the US House and a third of those in the Senate — both controlled narrowly by Republicans — will also be on the ballot in 2026.

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A president’s party typically suffers in the midterm elections, losing an average of 28 House seats and four Senate seats in midterm elections since 1934, according to a Bloomberg review of election data compiled by the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara. 

“You know, in presidential races, they say when you win the presidency, usually the midterms don’t go well,” Trump said. “I think we’re going to do great. I think we’re going to really increase our margins by a lot.”

Some of the first tests of how sweeping Republican attempts to reshape Washington are being received by voters will come in Virginia and New Jersey, where elections later this year will decide a pair of open seats. Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin and New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy are both prevented by term limits from running again. Both states backed Democrat Kamala Harris over Trump in 2024.

Trump, as the political head of the Republican party, has already started wading into 2026 primary campaigns. He endorsed close ally Representative Byron Donalds for governor of Florida, if Donalds decides to run for the seat. 

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Trump’s early backing could ease a path for Donalds, but it may also set up a clash by proxy with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is prevented by term limits from seeking reelection. His wife, Casey DeSantis, has long been considered a formidable candidate, were she to get into the race, and NBC reported earlier this month that Florida’s first lady was seriously considering a run of her own.

Agenda Allies

The Republican Governors Association gathering offered the president a friendly audience of state leaders who have sought to align their policies with the White House. Republican governors have backed Trump up on some of his key priorities, including his efforts to carry out deportations of undocumented migrants and expand domestic energy production, and they’ve followed his lead on efforts to slash government bureaucracy in their own state capitals and lower taxes. 

More than two dozen Republican governors in January signed a letter to Trump expressing their support for his Department of Government Efficiency effort overseen by billionaire Elon Musk to streamline the federal bureaucracy, and urging Congress to aid the effort. In some Republican-led states, governors or legislatures are looking to create their efforts to cut spending.

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“As chief executives for our states, we know a thing or two about streamlining government, removing unnecessary bureaucracy, and bringing efficient, result-driven solutions to state government,” they wrote in the letter. “We stand by President Trump as he works to do the same with the federal government.”

The president is also aiming to overhaul the US Department of Education, with the goal of eliminating the agency and sending its funding and functions to states.

Still, parts of Trump’s agenda offer to complicate matters for his allies in governors’ mansions. DOGE’s moves to slash the federal government’s workforce, responsibilities and spending present cuts that could affect communities across states, even those led by Republicans, and strain state and local budgets.

And Trump’s push for sweeping tariffs on US imports threaten to fuel inflation, economists warn, undercutting efforts to curb price growth. Governors are also grappling with the public’s worries about housing costs with home prices near record highs and mortgage rates unlikely to drop in the foreseeable future. Trump’s tariffs also risk being another drag on homebuilders.

—With assistance from Kate Sullivan, Romy Varghese and John Harney.

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