WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump teased that he has "big surprises" in store in the weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm election that involve his budget chief, igniting intense speculation among his critics on what the president could be planning.
Trump made the remark on Oct. 6 as he was giving a shoutout to Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, during a speech near Baltimore on a new Maryland shipyard that will build submarines.
"We have some big surprises coming up in another few weeks, right, Russ?" Trump said. "He's going to be one of the very important people in the history of our country, in my opinion. He's got some great things happening."
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The White House did not say when asked what Trump mean by his comments, directing USA TODAY to the OMB, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump has already taken several extraordinary actions ahead of the midterms, including spending more than $12 million in government funds to air pro-Trump television ads, issuing $500 Affordable Care Act refund checks to nearly 1 million Americans, and sending $90 apiece to 1 million seniors by diverting funds from a Medicare fund reserved for improvements to the program.
The New York Times reported that Trump personally directed Vought, who served in the same role during Trump's term, to find government money to fund the ad campaign. The money came from $20 million authorized to the Department of Homeland Security. Trump has since promised to use money from his MAGA Inc. Super PAC to pay for the ads, but doesn't plan to reimburse the government for nearly $13 million already spent to air the commercials.
Trump has also pledged to give all adult Americans $5,000 from government revenue if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate ‒ an offer even some MAGA allies have called a bribe for votes.
Vought, one of the president's closest aides, helped write Project 2025, the controversial policy blueprint created by the conservative Heritage Foundation that Trump tried to distance himself from during the 2024 campaign. Vought has taken a leading role in the Trump administration's efforts to slash federal agencies, cut spending and lay off federal workers.
Some Trump critics suggested that the president's hint about "big surprises" could signal efforts to interfere with the election. "Election interference in the offing," Joyce Vance, a former Obama-appointed U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, said in a post on X.
Trump unsuccessfully tried to overturn his 2020 election loss and still falsely says he won the election.
Leading up to the midterms, the president has regularly accused Democrats of cheating to win elections, without presenting evidence, and tried to sow doubts about the integrity of U.S. elections in a prime-time speech in July. Trump has issued executive orders creating new voting restrictions and directed the Department of Homeland Security to look for noncitizens on the voting rolls.
Trump also led a rare mid-decade redistricting effort in a bid to create more Republican congressional seats before the midterms.
In an interview last week with Time magazine, Trump did not rule out declaring a national emergency around the midterms or invoking the Insurrection Act, which allows the president to deploy the military within the United State during times of civil disorder.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump hints at 'big surprises' to come ahead of midterm election
