Donald Trump speaks to members of the media during a Hallowe’en party at Mar-a-Lago Credit Getty Images/Andrew Harnik Connor Stringer Chief Washington Correspondent Show biography Connor leads coverage of the White House and US politics. Based in Washington, he has broken a series of world exclusives and covered the defining moments of Donald Trump’s administration 10:15pm GMT Inside Donald Trump’s White House, anxiety is growing. Conversations have pivoted from how to win the midterms to what happens if the Republicans lose.

For some officials, the biggest fear is being dragged through hostile investigations for the next two years after a Democratic takeover of Congress on Tuesday.

Others worry about a campaign to impeach the president who himself is mulling mass pardons for junior administration staff to ease their trepidation.

“People are walking in asking for pardons,” said one person familiar with the mounting tensions. “The Democrats are going to have a field day.”Donald Trump arriving for a campaign rally in Kansas at the weekend The anxiety has been compounded by polls that show a bleak outlook for the Republican Party High energy costs and voter fatigue over the nearly eight-month-old war in Iran – one Mr Trump predicted at the onset would last only weeks – are weighing heavily on Republican candidates.

Diesel prices continue to hover near all-time highs in the United States, creating trouble for the GOP in typically conservative states such as Iowa, Kansas, Ohio and Texas.

Democrats need a gain of four seats in the US House of Representatives and in the US Senate to overturn Republicans’ narrow majorities. Opinion polls favour Democrats to win the House, while the Senate remains too close to call.

A Republican defeat would plunge Washington into political deadlock as the US president would struggle to pass legislation against a Democratic majority, threatening his remaining domestic priorities. ‘Pushing the limits’Preparing for the worst, the White House has developed a plan to keep major parts of Mr Trump’s political agenda on track if Democrats seize control.

Senior officials, including Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff, have spent months drafting a plan that would let Mr Trump govern without congressional approval Will Scharf, the White House counsel, and his team are also looking at “what Mr Trump can legally do on his own, where he could push the limits of his authority and how to defend those decisions in court,” an official told Reuters.

Among the executive actions under consideration are new tariffs on imports of critical minerals, tighter rules on visas and measures aimed at lowering housing and construction costs.

Executive orders could allow Mr Trump to test the limits of his authority by bypassing congressional approval. Such orders would face stiff legal challenges.

However, Mr Trump also has the power to veto Democratic legislation he doesn’t like, something he is expected to do.

Die hard supporters of the president are becoming less visible Getty Images/TOM BRENNER While the White House prepares to dig in, the president has become increasingly frustrated by the lack of people willing to go out and bat for him in public.

He is said to have privately complained that he did not have enough high-profile allies pushing back against critics or highlighting his second-term wins in the run-up to election day.

It is a problem made worse by the loss of core loyalists, such as Karoline Leavitt, the former White House press secretary, who have transitioned to outside advisory roles.

When Mr Trump saw Katie Zacharia, a conservative commentator, on Fox News defending him in October, he rushed to install her as press secretary.

Five days into the job, she was gone. A nervous first press briefing in which she went haltingly through a scripted speech, took just three questions from journalists and accidentally referred to her husband as “my president”, doomed her from the start.

President’s frustrations far-reaching Mr Trump’s frustrations don’t end with his perceived lack of support.

Last month, he discovered that Chris LaCivita and James Blair, two of his most important political advisers, had taken work advising a pro-Russian party in Bosnia while his own party was fighting for survival.

He threatened to dismiss them if their outside interests conflicted with his. Mr LaCivita and Mr Blair agreed to donate their six-figure consulting fee to Mr Trump’s presidential library.

Their side hustle only fuelled claims that those in Mr Trump’s orbit are more interested in personal enrichment than political survival. A Harris poll for the Guardian found that 76 per cent believed officials cared more about self-enrichment than helping everyday Americans.

News that Alina Habba, the president’s former personal lawyer, had taken a $50m (£38m) contract with the family of a pardoned Venezuelan banker only compounded that belief.

“I thought it was totally obnoxious and outrageous, and it’s not acceptable,” Mr Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday. “Not acceptable at all.”At the same time, the department of justice is investigating Corey Lewandowski, a former top aide and de facto chief of staff to Kristi Noem, the former homeland security secretary.

Early voters at the polls in Anchorage, Alaska, on Monday AFP /CHARLY TRIBALLEAU Investigators are probing whether Mr Lewandowski improperly used his position for personal financial gain, including allegations that he sought consulting work from foreign governments such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Beneath the trepidation is a stubborn determination to fight. Mr Trump has embarked on a breakneck campaign to push endangered Republican candidates in key states such as Texas, Iowa and Kansas. He has held more than 20 rallies in the last 20 days, from Alaska to Mississippi.

One GOP veteran working on midterm campaigns across the country described efforts to rally voters as a “dog fight”.

Mr Trump is said to ask staff regularly about turnout and polling in the states he’s visiting, wondering how Republican efforts are “playing”.

“The mood is mixed,” said a senior Republican and close ally of the president who spoke anonymously. “I think we hold the Senate.”The ally added: “The president’s whirlwind campaigning has made a huge difference in many races. The fact that he is saying he is on the ballot is unprecedented for a midterm vote.”

Financial edge Republicans also have one distinct advantage: money. Mr Trump’s political groups have spent nearly $277m (£211m) to boost Republicans since September, an amount that puts this year on pace to be the most expensive midterm ever.

Yet it may not be enough to carry the GOP. The president’s import taxes disrupted the agricultural economy and triggered a trade war with Canada, putting Republicans on the back foot in Senate races from Iowa, Michigan and Kansas to Nebraska, Ohio and Maine.

Some observers say Mr Trump will have nobody to point the finger at The war in Iran that he said would be over in weeks continues eight months later with no clear strategy for conclusion, starkly at odds with his pledge to not engage in Middle East conflicts.

And so, facing a midterm reckoning, the president has spent the final weeks of the campaign warning voters of the consequences of a Democratic win. Behind closed doors, his advisers are preparing for a difficult future with Congress no longer on his side.