‘We got to win the midterms’: Trump takes his State of the Union message on the road.

President Donald Trump after he delivered remarks on energy policies at the Port of Corpus Christie in Corpus Christie, Texas, on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)

By ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS 

In his first public event since his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump on Friday recounted a political trap he set for Democrats.

In what was billed as an energy policy speech in Corpus Christi, Texas, Trump described how Democrats refused to stand up during his address Tuesday evening, when he invited them to pledge that their duty was to “American citizens” and “not illegal aliens.”

Then he talked about it again. And again.

In the hourlong remarks, Trump mentioned the phrase “stand up” 11 times. And just as he did in his State of the Union speech, he referred to Democrats as “crazy,” over and over again.

“Did you see these people on my right, the way they just sat there?” Trump said. “To have unity, you need sane people on the other side.”

In the days after a State of the Union address, presidents typically travel the nation promoting their agenda. In Texas, Trump made clear that he would be driving home his depiction of Democrats as out-of-step, unpatriotic people ahead of the midterm elections in November.

He also baselessly accused Democrats of election fraud — a tactic that appears intended to undermine Americans’ faith in the outcome of the vote at a moment when Republicans are facing an uphill battle to keep control of Congress. Trump has warned that he will be impeached a third time if Democrats regain control of the House.

“They’re crazy and we got to win the midterms,” Trump said. “You got to get out and we got to vote, and we’ll keep it all going better even than it is now.”

Just days before a crucial primary election in Texas, Democrats were surging in early voting. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., warned this week that Democrats could flip the seat long held by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

The party that has won the White House has also historically suffered losses in the subsequent midterm elections. And polling shows that Trump continues to be widely unpopular. He has also lost support on his handling of two issues he campaigned on: the economy and immigration.

“When I knock on doors in my district, the cost of living is the No. 1 concern I hear: How do I afford groceries, how do I pay my rising mortgage, my insurance keeps going up,” Mihaela Plesa, a Democratic Texas state representative, told reporters before Trump’s speech. “As a former small-business owner, I can tell you that 3.3 million small businesses here in Texas are getting squeezed, too.”

Trump has not yet delivered an endorsement in the three-way primary battle for Cornyn’s seat, despite the fact that the incumbent, as well as his challengers, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston, were all present for his speech.

Still, Trump’s decision to take his message on the road is seen as key to bolstering turnout for Republican candidates.

“The more he can talk about what he’s doing with his economic development stuff and his energy stuff and things like that is very, very helpful,” said Dave Carney, a political strategist for Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas. “He’s still very powerful. He’s a very powerful weapon.”

Trump did touch on some of those policies, including his promise to not tax tips or overtime and his “drill, baby, drill” approach to supporting oil production. (The administration recently halted the government’s legal authority to control the pollution that is dangerously heating the planet.) He at one point turned to an oil tanker to his left and claimed that it had carried more than 360,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude.

“We’re going to keep some for ourselves,” Trump said. “We’re going to give some to them, and they’re going to make more money than they’ve ever made before.”

But Trump did not seem overly concerned with showing empathy for people feeling economic pain as he insists he has solved the issue of “affordability.”

“Has anyone gone down with their 401(k)?” asked Trump, who has taken credit for gains in people’s retirement savings plan. “Because if you do, you’re a loser.”

Still, his message resonated with his fans in the audience.

Shelia Click, an Air Force veteran at Trump’s speech, said she did not like that Democrats did not stand during the State of the Union address when Trump asked if they agreed that “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”

“The Democrats have lost their minds,” Click said.

She has not yet voted in the Texas Senate primary. Click was waiting to see whom Trump endorsed.