President Trump told The New York Times Tuesday night he is “absolutely willing to accept” the results of the midterm elections, which will hand Democrats control of the House and the Senate in January, and he promised to veto what he called “insane” legislation from the new majorities.
Democrats flipped Republican-held Senate seats in Maine, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to Fox News. Its count early Wednesday stood at 54 Democrats and 44 Republicans, with two Republican seats, in Mississippi and Alaska, still uncalled. In the House, Democrats cleared the 218 seats needed for a majority.
What the President said
Trump first reacted on Truth Social at 10:37 p.m. “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” he wrote.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said he was “a little surprised” by the outcome and that Democrats “fought hard.” He predicted they would send him bills he would not sign. “After a couple of months of vetoes, they’ll call and they’ll say, ‘how do we get this stuff done?’ And we’ll work together,” he said. “I have the power of veto.”
Asked what drove the result, Trump pointed to gasoline prices tied to the Iran conflict. “People agree with what I’m doing on Iran but they really probably weren’t willing to do the short term consequences of paying more for gasoline. I understand that,” he said.
Republican leaders
House Speaker Mike Johnson told supporters that history was against the party from the start, since a sitting president’s party has held or gained seats in his first midterm only twice in 90 years. “We double down,” he said. “And come 2028, we will take back the House, and we will finish this job.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Republicans “will not stand idly by as the far-left, socialist wing of the Democratic Party attempts to unwind everything we’ve done.” A source close to Thune told Fox News Digital he intends to run for minority leader.
That plan is already drawing fire. The SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, passed the House three times this year and died under the Senate filibuster. “Reminder: We have John Thune to thank for not passing the SAVE America Act and securing our elections earlier,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., wrote on X. Another Senate Republican source told Fox News Digital that the chamber met only 148 days in 2026 and named Sen. Mike Lee of Utah as a possible alternative leader.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in line to become majority leader, told reporters, “Relief is on the way.”
The bottom line
This was a bad night for Republicans, and the President was candid about one reason. Americans support standing up to Tehran, but they felt the war at the gas pump and voted on it.
The other reasons sit closer to home. A Republican Senate had two years to pass a bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote. It let the filibuster kill that bill while the chamber met fewer than 150 days this year. Republican voters noticed. A leader who could not deliver with a majority should not be handed the top job in the minority.
Trump still holds the veto, and he should use it on every bill that raises taxes or loosens the border. Republicans have two years to show voters what they would do with power, and they should start by choosing Senate leaders who will fight for the agenda those voters elected them to pass.