Trump Sparks Alarm After ‘Joke’ About Canceling the 2026 Midterms

A Democratic congressman is warning Americans that President Donald Trump’s latest “joke” about canceling the 2026 midterms may actually be a red-alert warning of what’s coming.

And after the president’s shock military raid in Venezuela — a move that stunned U.S. allies and sent oil markets into chaos — Democrats say the threat is now impossible to ignore.

Rep. Seth Moulton didn’t mince words.

“Trump is testing the waters,” Moulton said Wednesday. “And anyone who thinks he won’t try to disrupt the midterms is living in a fantasy.”

The warning came hours after Trump stepped onto a stage at the Kennedy Center during the House GOP retreat and smirked his way through a familiar threat.

“I won’t say cancel the election,” he said, mocking his critics. “The fake news will call me a dictator.”

For Moulton, the remark wasn’t comedy. It was a reveal.

“This president has always telegraphed his worst ideas,” he said. “And this time, he’s doing it louder.”

Washington is still scrambling to understand why Trump ordered a lightning raid that seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro before dawn last Saturday. But what happened after the raid raised even bigger questions.

Instead of supporting opposition figure and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado — the overwhelming choice of Venezuelans — Trump installed Maduro loyalist Delcy Rodriguez as interim president.

“It’s the definition of replacing one dictator with another,” Moulton said. “And Trump did it because he was jealous. Let’s call it what it is.”

According to two former White House officials, Trump was enraged that Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize he had been publicly lobbying for under his self-branded title, “The Peace President.”

“He thought it was supposed to be his,” one insider said. “He talked about it nonstop.”

Moulton believes the Venezuela operation reveals a much darker goal.

“Trump claims Venezuela shouldn’t hold elections until things calm down,” Moulton said. “That’s the exact language strongmen use before suspending elections at home.”

He pointed to Trump’s Oval Office meeting last year with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. When Zelensky explained his country couldn’t hold elections during the war, Trump fired back:

“So if we’re at war here… no elections?”

“He said it with that smug grin,” Moulton said. “He meant it.”

Since returning to the White House in 2025, Trump has ordered military strikes in Venezuela, Iran, Somalia, Yemen, and Nigeria — often after late-night Truth Social rants.

“He is manufacturing global crises,” one Democratic national security aide said. “And every crisis becomes another excuse to say, ‘This isn’t the right time for elections.’”

Moulton echoed that fear.

“Maybe that’s why he’s starting so many wars,” he said. “Because wars give him cover.”

The White House responded with pure insult.

“Seth Moulton’s TDS has reached such an advanced stage that he went on a podcast to defend an indicted narcoterrorist,” Trump spokesperson Abigail Jackson said. “Sad!”

But the attack collapsed instantly: the latest episode of The Daily Beast Podcast drew more than 241,000 YouTube views in 24 hours.

“Calling critics crazy is what authoritarians do when they get too close to the truth,” a senior Democratic strategist said.

Moulton ended his interview with a blunt warning.

“There is one thing about Trump you can take to the bank,” he said. “When he threatens to break something, he usually breaks something bigger.”

He urged Americans not to dismiss Trump’s latest line as banter.

“He already tested out stopping elections in Venezuela. Now he’s floating it here. We should be terrified — and prepared.”