President Donald Trump used a White House lunch for first responders to urge support for Republican candidates before the Nov. 3 midterms, while making an unexplained reference to personal problems.
The event video shows Trump discussing drinking, smoking and drugs before saying, “I have some very severe problems, but those are not one of them.” He then said, “I actually don’t know. I was just having fun, to the media.” The recording provides no explanation of what he meant.
Trump said he had reached the White House at 4:45 a.m. EDT after little sleep. He estimated that he was averaging about one and a half rallies each day, while adding that it might be one, depending. He named Michigan, Iowa and Kansas as upcoming stops and urged Republicans to win races, according to the event video.
An AP-NORC poll conducted Oct. 8-12 found 36% of voters approved of Trump’s job performance and 64% disapproved; the poll surveyed 1,119 adults. On control of Congress, 47% favored Democrats in the House and 46% in the Senate; 38% preferred Republican control of each chamber, while 15% were unsure. The poll’s margin of sampling error was ±3.9 percentage points.
The Federal Election Commission lists Nov. 3, 2026, as the general election date. USAGov says all 435 House seats and about one-third of Senate seats will be contested.
