GOP strategist urges candidates to break from Trump ahead of midterms

A Republican Party strategist is urging candidates to break from President Donald Trump when pitching themselves to voters ahead of the midterms.

An unnamed GOP political strategist told Reuters that candidates must break from previous party claims that they were "going to try to nationalize the election and say we’re a rubber stamp for Trump."

But Trump's decision-making in office, particularly over the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, could be a hindrance to GOP representatives hoping to hold or gain seats at the midterm elections. The unnamed GOP strategist told Reuters, "We have to break out of that and show race by race why we’re the better choice."

Trump made the SAVE Act a centerpiece of his second-term agenda, declaring in March 2026 that he would not sign any other bills into law until the SAVE Act reached his desk.

The legislation would require voters to provide proof of citizenship to register, fundamentally reshaping voter registration processes nationwide. Key provisions include ending mail-only voter registration, implementing nationwide photo ID requirements, restricting mail-in ballots except for military, illness, disability, or travel, and mandating rules to purge noncitizens from voter rolls.

An optimistic meeting helmed by Trump's team at the Waldorf Astoria on Monday has done little to quell concerns flagged by strategists.

Details of the meeting were leaked, suggesting that Trump's team is far more optimistic about the midterm elections than they should be. The meeting was held a day before Virginia voters approved the new congressional map Democrats drew to favor their party in November.

One person familiar with the meeting said, "If the people framing this approach are confident about Virginia and they get beat in Virginia, you have to ⁠question, are they overconfident about the whole package?"

“The politics have changed,” said another one of the people familiar with the meeting. “In January, nationalizing the race around him made some sense. Voters don’t feel the president is doing enough to make their lives cheaper, but they still believe Republicans want to do that,” the person said.

David McIntosh, president of the Trump-aligned Club for Growth, added, "The panic is people looking at things right now, but I think the key is to project where it could be over the summer, and it's still very fluid."