The midterm elections are coming later this year, and with Democratic overperformance in special elections, the traditional losses that happen to most incumbent presidents, and President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings, a wipeout that leads to Democratic control of at least one House of Congress is likely.
However, one leading journalist is raising the alarm that Trump might accept a midterm election result.
Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist who spent many years as a New York Times columnist, now writes for Substack, and in a recent piece, he warned of what might happen in the midterms this fall.
“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’ We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.” — Donald J. Trump
Are you ready now to take the warnings both literally and seriously?… pic.twitter.com/lYeX99gv0r
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) February 3, 2026
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“How does this end? Most immediately, what will happen during and after the midterm elections? Everything points to a blue wave in November. Yet many people in MAGA simply can’t accept losing power — among other things, their actions over the past year mean that if they lose power, many of them will go to jail,” Krugman writes.
He also referenced Trump’s recent talk about “nationalizing” the midterm elections and vote-counting.
“So it’s just being realistic to say that MAGA will try, somehow, to prevent voters from having their say,” Krugman wrote. “Will ICE try to prevent blue districts from voting? If that fails, will they reject the results, in a midterm version of Jan. 6? Call me alarmist, but remember: The alarmists have been right, and the people telling us to calm down have been wrong, every step of the way.”
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard speaks on the phone while standing inside a vehicle loaded with boxes outside the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center after the FBI executed a search warrant there. Photo by Elijah Nouvelage pic.twitter.com/zj5QHVVS2x
— corinne_perkins (@corinne_perkins) January 29, 2026
This follows the raid last week of an election office in Georgia, which was for some reason joined by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
“Gabbard’s presence baffled national security experts and raised questions about whether she is seeking new relevancy in the eyes of a president who had soured on her,” NBC News reported.
