President Donald Trump told Republicans they should persist through the remaining weeks before November voting and describe the nations current performance as unmatched, answering a reporter on the Joint Base Andrews tarmac before boarding Air Force One for Dallas.

He is scheduled to speak Wednesday and Thursday at a Republican National Convention gathering that has not previously been held in a midterm year, unlike the summer meetings that nominate presidential tickets. Republicans hold the House 218 to 214 over Democrats, with Representative Kevin Kiley of California listed as an independent after serving as a Republican, and they hold the Senate 53 to 47 over Democrats and allied independents when the chamber is full.

A party that already controls the White House and both houses of Congress has kept those majorities after a midterm only twice, in 2002 after the September 11 attacks and in 1934 under Franklin Roosevelt.