WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday sought to keep his House Republican troops in line even as he expressed concerns about November’s midterm elections and issued a warning to American weapons manufacturers.

“We got to close the deal,” Trump said of an election that will decide control of the House and Senate as he urged his party mates to “just stay together” because “what we’re doing is the right thing for the country.”

He stressed legislative work needed ahead of Election Day, including on immigration, health care and paring down energy prices, offering what has been a loyal GOP Conference a glimpse into his 2026 strategy just days after his administration’s contentious operation to oust and arrest Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Speaking from the Kennedy Center, whose board voted last month to add “Trump” to its name, the president framed the U.S. military action as a demonstration of American strength. He repeatedly insisted that bold action against Maduro was both necessary and overdue. Democratic lawmakers have countered that the operation was illegal and strategically questionable.

Trump congratulated the U.S. military, intelligence and law enforcement personnel who carried out the”complex” and “brilliant” operation late Friday night into Saturday morning.

“Many, many talk about boots on the ground. We had a lot of boots on the ground, but it was amazing. And think of it, nobody was killed” on the American side, Trump said, before referring to Cuban personnel who were guarding Maduro: “And on the other side, a lot of people were killed. Unfortunately, I say that, soldiers, Cubans, mostly Cubans, but many, many killed. … They knew we were coming, and they were protected, and our guys weren’t.”

Here are three takeaways from Trump’s remarks to House Republicans.

Midterm worries

The president used the retreat to hammer home his influence over the Republican Party heading into the midterms, which have traditionally served as referenda on the party in power.

Trump praised GOP lawmakers who largely have stuck with him in backing his domestic agenda. But polls have shown Democrats with ample momentum, something that appeared to be on Trump’s mind Tuesday.

“They say that when you win the presidency, you lose the midterm. So you’re all brilliant people. Most of you are in this business longer than me. That makes me smarter than you, because look where I am, right?” the president quipped. “No, it doesn’t. But I wish you could explain to me what the hell’s going on with the mind of the public.”

“Because we have … the right policy. They have horrible policy,” he said of Democrats. “They do stick together. They’re violent, they’re vicious … and they stick together like glue.”

Recent polling has shown Democrats with the advantage on the generic congressional ballot, which asks respondents whether they plan to vote for the Republican or the Democratic candidate for Congress. As of Tuesday, a RealClearPolitics average of recent surveys put Democrats at 46.2% and Republicans at 42.2% on the generic ballot.

Trump essentially delivered, in part, an election-year pep talk — though he veered between familiar topics, from unsubstantiated voter fraud allegations to criticisms of former President Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden and former President Barack Obama to verbal jabs at longtime political foes such as Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“Every one of you got to be proud of yourselves, and basically the entire House Republican Conference has been really amazing [with] what you’ve done,” he said. “And we’re going to give you some ammunition today.”

Over the upcoming 10 months before Election Day, Trump urged the GOP lawmakers to “work on borders,” while saying of congressional Democrats: “Take the health care issue away from them.” He added: “The other thing is energy. Your energy prices have come so far down since I’m president. … And that’s like a massive tax cut. … All you have to do is sell it.”

“You guys got to get elected, because if you don’t get elected, we have a country that’s going to go to hell,” Trump said. “So we can’t play games.”

‘Violent guy’

In the hours and days after the daring Venezuela mission, Trump and some of his closest aides used various rationales to defend ousting a world leader the U.S. and other countries regarded as illegitimate.

Some senior administration officials cited a warrant for Maduro’s arrest on drugs and gun charges, while Trump himself has repeatedly said there was a need for Venezuela to dramatically increase its oil production to drive down global energy prices.

But on Tuesday, Trump’s basis for ordering the operation was because Maduro was a bad guy.

“They’ve been after this guy for years and years and years. And he’s a violent guy,” the president said a day after Maduro pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan courtroom. “They have a torture chamber in the middle of Caracas that they’re closing up.”

Trump also echoed his deputy White House chief of staff, Stephen Miller, who told CNN on Monday that the administration was prepared to exert its will in other parts of the Western Hemisphere based on “power.”

“The United States proved, once again, that we have the most powerful, most lethal, most sophisticated and most fearsome — it’s a fearsome military — on planet Earth,” Trump told the House Republicans. “And it’s not even close. And I’ve been saying it for a long time: Nobody can take us. Nobody.”

Defense delays

Trump was not happy with all parts of what former President Dwight D. Eisenhower— an Army general and fellow Republican— referred to decades ago as the “military-industrial complex.”

He expressed frustration with American weapons manufacturers, telling Republican lawmakers those firms typically take too long to produce combat platforms.

“Nobody has the quality of our weapons. The problem is we don’t produce them fast enough,” Trump said. “We’re going to start producing them much faster. We’re going to be very tough on the companies.”

The commander in chief has in recent months expressed his concerns over the industry’s long history of delayed, over-budgeted and canceled weapon programs, picking up criticisms he also espoused during his first term. But, like other recent presidents, his administration has been unable to speed up the design, development, testing and fielding of U.S.-made weapons of war and support systems.

“We have the best weapons in the world, but it takes too long to get them, including allies. When allies want to buy them, they have to wait four years for a plane, five years for a helicopter,” Trump said, throwing up his hands. “We’re not letting that happen anymore. We’re telling our defense contractors, ‘You’re going to start building faster.'”

“Why should they wait three, four years to get a plane?” he added. “The F-35, it takes too long to get them. The Apache helicopter. I mean, I had India coming to me, ‘Sir, I’ve been waiting five years.’ We’re changing it.”

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