U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 12, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Robert Kagan, a conservative historian who has written extensively about American foreign policy, warned CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that President Donald Trump is likely to meddle in the 2026 midterm elections and thereby take “one big step into dictatorship.”
“The U.S. Congress — both parties — are unwilling to really fight Trump,” Kagan told Amanpour after noting that only ordinary people have been standing up to the president.
“The Republicans have become the party of dictatorship,” he added, arguing that Democrats have so far been inadequate in standing up to the president.
“I am worried, as I have said and others have been pointing out, about whether we will even have free and fair elections in 2026, let alone in 2028,” Kagan said. “I think Trump has a plan to disrupt those elections, and I don't think he's willing to allow Democrats to take control of one or both houses as could happen in a free election.”
When Amanpour suggested Republican support for Trump might be cracking because he is pulling ICE from Minnesota and six Republican legislators refused to vote with him on tariffs against Canada.
“I don't agree with that,” Kagan replied. “I mean, it's always one step forward and two steps back with Donald Trump.”
Speaking to NPR earlier this month, Kagan pointed out that Trump has repeatedly said he would like to be a dictator. Furthermore, Trump has said that if Democrats claim the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections, he will be impeached, so he cannot allow that to happen.
“It's clear that he has no intention of allowing the elections to play out and allow a Democratic victory,” Kagan said. “And I think it's important to understand his motives here. He knows perfectly well that, in effect, his presidency will be greatly diminished once the Democrats take either one or both of the Houses.”
He added, “He himself is saying right now that he'll be impeached, and that is why he wants to prevent the Democrats from taking power.”
In January Kagan wrote in The Atlantic that Trump’s foreign policy will also consolidate his authoritarianism by isolating America from the rest of the world.
“Americans are entering the most dangerous world they have known since World War II, one that will make the Cold War look like child’s play and the post-Cold War world like paradise,” Kagan wrote. “In fact, this new world will look a lot like the world prior to 1945, with multiple great powers and metastasizing competition and conflict. The U.S. will have no reliable friends or allies and will have to depend entirely on its own strength to survive and prosper.”
Because this will require increased military spending and America will have lost much of its access to world markets, global privileges Americans previously took for granted “will no longer come as a benefit of the country’s alliances. Instead, they will have to be contested and defended against other great powers.”
Kagan is not alone among Republicans warning that Trump plans on stealing the midterm elections. Speaking to David Frum of The Atlantic, former Republican county recorder of Maricopa County Stephen Richer (who held office when Trump tried to overturn Arizona's 2020 election) said: “This is the first instance in which I could begin to believe that something truly spectacular is going to happen in which our 2026 midterm elections are not administered like past elections have been.”
Conservatives also warned that Trump’s unpopular economic policies could cost him support in the midterm elections.
“Voters are rarely able to connect policy to outcomes, but they have done so in the case of tariffs,” wrote conservative columnist Mona Charen for The Bulwark on Thursday. “Back in 2024, Americans were about equally divided on the question of trade, with some favoring higher tariffs and roughly similar numbers opting for lower tariffs. Experience has changed their views.”