President Donald Trump told Texas Republicans on Tuesday the White House believes the GOP can flip as many as five US House seats as part of a Republican redistricting effort in the state, according to a source familiar with the call.

       Punchbowl News first reported on the president’s message to Texas Republicans.

       Trump said on Truth Social Tuesday that he had spoken with members of the Texas delegation that morning as he and his team plow ahead with a midterm strategy to redraw that state’s congressional map in an attempt to pad Republicans’ cushion heading into the November 2026 midterms.

       “Just spoke to our Great Congressmen and women of Texas,” the president wrote, adding later: “I keep hearing about Texas ‘going Blue,’ but it is just another Democrat LIE. With the right Candidate, Texas isn’t ‘going Blue’ anytime soon!”

       The White House has been aggressively pushing the redistricting plan behind the scenes, even though it has caused some unease within Texas’ GOP delegation.

       In recent weeks, the administration has communicated to its Texas members and GOP leadership its aim to pick up as many as five seats, according to two Republicans familiar with those discussions.

       Many Republicans are privately skeptical the party can pick up that many seats, and some believe a pickup of two seats would be more likely, one of the Republicans familiar said.

       The Texas State Legislature is set to return next week for a special session to begin the process of redrawing the state’s congressional map, known as redistricting. It’s a highly unusual move, given that Texas completed its once-a-decade redistricting process after the 2020 census.

       CNN’s Aileen Graef contributed to this report.