Joy Behar says she fears Trump could use unrest to ‘declare martial law and cancel 2026 midterms’

WASHINGTON, DC: On 'The View' this week, co-host Joy Behar said she is worried that President Donald Trump could use protests and unrest as an excuse to declare martial law and cancel the 2026 midterm elections.

Her comments quickly gained traction online and soon appeared on conservative news sites.

Behar raised the concern during a broader discussion about deepening political divisions, protests against ICE, and growing fears over the future of American democracy.

Joy Behar warns Trump may cancel midterms

On the latest episode of 'The View,' Joy Behar said she is worried that President Donald Trump may actually be hoping for chaos, large, disruptive protests across the country, so he can claim justification to declare martial law and cancel the midterm elections later this year

She linked this concern to recent protests against ICE, particularly following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

Behar said she believes Trump is afraid of losing power and worries about impeachment if Democrats regain control of Congress.

“I worry about that Trump is looking for this kind of pandemonium to go on like you just described. So that he could declare martial law or something and also cancel the midterms,” Behar said.

“Watch out for this guy!” Behar warned. “Because he’s worried. He even said, ‘If the Democrats take Congress next time, I will be impeached,’ which means that he could be convicted and sent to jail. He does not want that to happen.”

More recently, President Trump spoke about the importance of winning the midterms.

“You got to win the midterms, because if we don’t win the midterms, it’s just going to be, I mean, they’ll find a reason to impeach me,” he said. “I’ll get impeached.”

Whoopi Goldberg urges people to keep protesting

On the same show, Whoopi Goldberg pivoted from Behar’s claims and urged people to continue protesting, offering tips on how to stay safe.

“Let us be very clear, not all ICE agents are out of control. Not all of them. Some of them actually do know what they’re doing and they’re having a hard time,” she said. 

“But you do have the right to say we don’t like what we see, we’re gonna protest.”

Trump stands out as the only president the House has impeached twice. Both times, however, the Senate did not reach the two-thirds majority needed to convict him.

The first impeachment occurred in 2019, when lawmakers accused Trump of pressuring Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who was running against him. Then, in 2021, the House impeached Trump again, this time over his role in the chaos at the Capitol on January 6, when he tried to overturn his loss to Biden.