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President-elect Trump may not be on the ballot in the 2026 midterms, but Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley believes Trump will play a “significant” role in supporting GOP candidates.
Reflecting on the GOP’s successes in the recent elections—Trump defeating Vice President Kamala Harris, the GOP flipping control of the Senate, and retaining their slim House majority—Whatley emphasized the need for continued momentum.
“As we go forward into this next election cycle, the fundamentals are going to remain the same,” Whatley said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “We need to make sure that we are building our state parties, our ground game, and our election integrity apparatus to ensure that when we get those candidates through the primaries in ’26, we’re taking them all the way to the finish line.”
Historically, the party in power tends to lose ground in midterms, but Whatley predicts Trump will remain a powerful force even if he is not on the ballot. “President Trump is going to be a very significant part of this because…we need to hold on to the House, hold on to the Senate, so we can finish his term and agenda,” Whatley said, adding that Trump will actively campaign for GOP candidates.
Whatley also expressed confidence in Republican fundraising efforts for the midterms. “We were successful in putting Donald Trump into the White House, and we need to carry forward his agenda by keeping House and Senate majorities,” he noted.
He dismissed skepticism of the RNC and Trump campaign’s general election efforts, highlighting innovative strategies targeting low-propensity voters. “This was an entirely new system we implemented, and it worked very, very well,” Whatley said. “In a midterm cycle, those voters will again be crucial, and we’ll keep focusing on that.”
Additionally, he highlighted outreach to demographics traditionally underrepresented by the Republican Party, including Black, Hispanic, and Asian American voters, as well as seismic shifts in support among women and young voters. “We were talking to every single American voter, and our ground game was very significant,” he explained.
Whatley, appointed by Trump earlier this year to succeed Ronna McDaniel as RNC chair, acknowledged the president-elect’s transformative role. “Donald Trump has completely remade the Republican Party. We’re now the working-class party speaking directly to the issues voters care about,” he said.
Looking ahead, Whatley emphasized the movement’s longevity beyond Trump’s presidency. “The America First movement is bigger than Donald Trump. He is the tip of the spear…but it is a very big movement now,” he stated, noting that Trump’s term-limited presidency creates opportunities for future GOP leaders, including Vice President-elect Sen. J.D. Vance, a potential 2028 frontrunner.
Despite the Democratic National Committee’s decision to alter its presidential primary calendar in 2024, the RNC kept the traditional lineup, with the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary leading the schedule. “I’ve not had any conversations with anyone wanting to change the calendar on our side,” Whatley said. “We’re very comfortable with it as it is.”
Whatley concluded that the Republican Party’s current trajectory, bolstered by Trump’s leadership and movement, has positioned it strongly for the 2028 presidential race and beyond.
