Trump reportedly warned evangelical leaders of 'violence' if the GOP loses its hold on Congress

President Trump warned evangelical leaders of fire and brimstone should Democrats take control of Congress in November, The New York Times reports.

The Times received a tape recording of Trump's comments from a person who attended a White House dinner Monday night attended by about 100 evangelical ministers and pastors. Trump is heard declaring, after reporters left the room, that Democrats "will overturn everything that we've done and they'll do it quickly and violently" if they take control of Congress in November, adding, "there's violence."

Trump said he thinks Republicans "are popular, but there's a real question as to whether people are going to vote if I'm not on the ballot. And I'm not on the ballot." He urged the religious leaders to "go out and make sure all of your people vote," because if "they don't vote we're going to have a miserable two years" and "a very hard period of time," adding, "You're one election away from losing everything you've got."

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He also shared a story from the campaign trail, when dozens of pastors came to visit him in Trump Tower. This was the first time he learned about the Johnson Amendment, he said, a provision of tax law that strips a religious organization of its tax-exempt status if it endorses or opposes a political candidate. This turned into a remembrance of what he saw when he looked outside the window and viewed "thousands and thousands of people" below. "They looked like ants, little people going all over — boom, boom, boom — so little, 'cause when you're 68 floors, they look really small. But there were a lot of them." The Times notes that the 68th floor of Trump Tower does not exist; there are only has 58 floors, but Trump likes to add 10 stories to the building's height. You can read more of his comments at The New York Times.