Faced with a razor-thin Republican majority in the House, President Donald Trump says he withdrew GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination to serve as United Nations ambassador because he doesn’t “want to take any chances.”
The president made his remarks Friday while answering questions at the White House, one day after announcing on social media that he was withdrawing the nomination of Stefanik, a Republican from New York and top Trump ally in the House, due to concerns about getting his agenda through the chamber.
“I asked Elise, would you do me a favor? We cannot take chances. Trump told reporters, “We have a slim margin.”
Trump’s decision comes amid concerns from the White House and Republicans on Capitol Hill about next week’s special congressional elections in Florida.
Voters in two Florida congressional districts will go to the polls on Tuesday, with Republicans hoping to maintain control of both solidly red seats and give themselves a little more breathing room in the House.
The elections are in Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts, which Trump won by 37 and 30 points, respectively, in the 2016 presidential election.
However, the Democratic candidates have vastly outraised the Republican nominees, and recent polling indicates that the race in the 6th District is within the margin of error.
The GOP currently has a 218-213 majority in the House, with two open seats due to Republican resignations and two for Democratic lawmakers who died in March.
“When it comes to Florida, you have two races, and they seem to be good,” the president stated.
However, citing the Democratic candidates’ massive fundraising advantage over the Republican candidates, Trump expressed concern, saying, “You never know what happens in a case like that.”
Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, is leading Democrat Gay Valimont in a multi-candidate race to fill the vacant seat in the 1st CD, which is located in the far northwestern corner of Florida’s Panhandle.
Republican Matt Gaetz, who was re-elected in the district last November, resigned from office weeks later after Trump chose him as his nominee for attorney general in his second administration.
Gaetz later withdrew from consideration for cabinet positions due to controversy.
However, the race in the 6th CD, which spans Florida’s Atlantic coast from Daytona Beach to just south of Saint Augustine and inland to the outskirts of Ocala, has some Republicans concerned.
The race is to succeed Republican Michael Waltz, who resigned on Jan. 20 after Trump appointed him as national security adviser.
In a multi-candidate race, Republican state Sen. Randy Fine is running against Democrat Josh Weil, a teacher.
Weil has received a lot of national attention in recent weeks after outraising Fine by about ten to one.
The cash disparity in the 6th CD race prompted GOP-aligned outside groups to make last-minute contributions in support of Fine in the final days of the campaign, with conservative super PACs airing ads emphasizing Trump’s support for Fine.
“I would have preferred if our candidate had raised money faster and appeared on television sooner,” Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told reporters earlier this week.
However, Hudson stated that Fine is “doing what he needs to do.” “He’s on TV now.”
And he said, “We’re going to win the seat.” I am not concerned at all.”
On Friday, Trump pointed to Fine and said, “Our candidate doesn’t have that kind of money.”
Fine has received criticism from some fellow Republicans. Steve Bannon, a former top Trump political adviser and conservative host, has warned that Fine “isn’t winning.”
And two-term. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters last week that the GOP would perform poorly in the race, claiming that “it’s a reflection of the candidate running in that race.”
However, it is worth noting the contentious history between DeSantis and Fine, who was the first Florida Republican to switch his support from DeSantis to Trump during the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race.
In the 1st District, where Republicans are less concerned about losing the seat, Valimont outraised Patronis by about five to one.
Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida told Fox News Digital at his 2026 gubernatorial campaign kickoff in Bonita Springs that losing one of Tuesday’s elections would “make it difficult” for the GOP House majority.
However, he added, “I’m not looking forward to that.” I think we’ll win both of those seats on Tuesday. I believe Republican voters in those districts will turn out because, at the end of the day, the choice is obvious.”
While the races in the two Republican-dominated districts are far from ideal for Democrats to flip, they are the first chance for voters and donors to make a difference since Trump’s return to the White House.
And Democrats say the surge in fundraising for their candidates demonstrates that their party is motivated by voters’ dissatisfaction with Trump’s sweeping and controversial moves in his first weeks back in office.
“The American people are not buying what the Republicans are selling,” House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries stated earlier this week.
Jeffries and other Democrats are not predicting victory.
But Jeffries, the highest-ranking Democrat in the House, “these districts are so Republican, there would ordinarily be no reason to believe that the races will be close, but what I can say, almost guaranteed, is that the Democratic candidate in both of these Florida special elections will significantly overperform.”
Stefanik represents New York’s 21st Congressional District, a large, mostly rural district in the state’s north that includes the majority of the Adirondack Mountains and the Thousand Islands region. Last November, she easily won re-election by 24 points.
“We do not want to take any chances. “We don’t want to experiment,” Trump said, referring to a special election later this year to fill Stefanik’s seat if she had resigned if confirmed as UN ambassador. “She polls as I do. I won her district by a large margin of points. She also does exceptionally well there.”
“She’s extremely popular. She is going to win. And someone else will most likely win as well, given how well we performed there. I did extremely well there. But the word ‘probably’ is not good,” the president said, emphasizing that he did not want to take any chances.
Trump said he asked Stefanik, “Would you mind staying in Congress?” because we don’t want to take any chances. It’s that simple. It’s basic politics. “It’s political 101.”
“I really appreciate her doing it,” Trump continued. “She’s doing me a big favor . . . because she was all set to go to the United Nations.”
Stefanik has already stepped down and been replaced as chair of the House Republican Conference.
“I spoke to Mike Johnson, they’re going to put her in a high leadership position,” Trump said, as he referred to the House Speaker.
