President Donald Trump issued a foreboding proclamation during a speech in Maryland on Tuesday, just hours after he predicted a “Midterm Surprise!” in a Truth Social post.

“Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, who’s fantastic, he’s on a job, we have some big surprises coming up in another few weeks. Right, Russ?” Trump said. “He’s gonna be one of the very important people in the history of our country, in my opinion. He’s got some great things happening.”

Trump did not expand on what these so-called “surprises” would be.

Outside his role in the Trump administration, Vought is the primary architect of Project 2025, the conservative Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a second Trump term.

While not mentioned specifically by Trump, many critics online speculated that Trump was referring to some sort of plan to interfere in the midterm elections.

“Between this and his ‘midterm surprise,’ the time to prepare for him to try to steal an election is now,” Fox News host Jessica Tarlov wrote on X.

Other commenters suggested that Vought could use his official capacity to interfere with the elections.

Trump during his second term has made numerous attempts to influence the results of the midterm elections, including pushing majority-red states to redraw their congressional maps to favor Republicans, attempting to restrict mail-in voting, and pushing Congress to pass the “SAVE Act,” which would require voters to present proof of citizenship when casting a ballot.

Read more reactions to Trump’s speech here:

Trump is literally telling us he's about to attempt to take control of elections.  We should believe him. https://t.co/T4OKDMPFM8

Why is the Project 2025 guy “going to make history” in a few weeks?A real media system would endeavor to find out. https://t.co/LdOU9DBZtG

If he actually goes through with this, it's important that it not be a repeat of 2020, when complicit right-wingers get to just say, Ah well, we tried to steal an election and deprive millions of Americans of their vote and that’s that. Every individual and organization involved… https://t.co/VQRaPNI8eb

Trump is trying to depress turnout. The antidote to this is to: make sure you're registered to vote (https://t.co/nCkKiW4PN9), vote early (once you vote, candidates will divert resources away from you and toward low-propensity voters), and ensure other people vote (friends,… https://t.co/2lo9gGOH0s

Very, very frightening. https://t.co/KNhE0oTP8y

Trump wants to steal the midterms, and lunatics like Russ Vought would absolutely be willing to help him do it. Vought is the nut who said: "I don't want President Trump having to lose a moment of time having fights in the Oval Office about whether something is legal or doable or… https://t.co/VQRaPNHAoD

We all know his big surprise is going to be martial law, right? https://t.co/16lznUYjRe

Russ Vought, in his official capacity, has the power to interfere in elections by replacing nonpartisan election officials with loyalists, cut critical funding, and block independent election oversight.Trump wants to rig the election, and he’s shouting the quiet part out loud. https://t.co/8mF2E83iDp

If you needed a better indicator that Trump plans on stealing the midterms, this is a pretty fair indicator. https://t.co/8MElH6NNM9

They’re going to try to steal the midterms https://t.co/9OohdZdMX5

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