The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has reacted to the Republican defeat in midterm elections with a combination of congratulating his opponents, explanations about the reasons for the outcome, and warnings about the political pulse that is opening up in Washington. In an interview with Fox News, he acknowledged that the Democrats "did a good job" and "fought hard," while on his social networks he claimed that the Republicans would have won "by a landslide" if he had been on the ballot.
The reaction comes after the Democrats have regained control of the Senate and have achieved significant advances in the House of Representatives. Trump has said that he accepts the result, although he has rejected that the elections represent a rebuke to his management: "I don't see it as a punch at me," he said in the conversation with Fox News collected by Associated Press.
In another telephone interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump admitted that the war against Iran had contributed to the Republican rollback. "Iran was part of it," he recognized when asked about the influence of the conflict at the polls. However, he defended the decision to initiate the offensive and made clear that he does not regret having ordered it.
The president also pointed to the rising cost of fuel. In another conversation with Fox News, he argued that voters may have agreed with his decisions on Iran, but were not willing to assume their economic consequences in the short term, especially the increase in the gasoline price.
"If I had been on the ballot, we would have won by a landslide"
Trump's first reaction on Truth Social was to attribute the result to his absence from the electoral ballots. "I was not on the ballot and, if I had been, we would have won by a landslide," he wrote in a post shared while Democratic victories were already piling up.
In another message, he announced that he would become a "political commentator" to explain the reasons why the candidates had won or lost. He also blamed Fox News for part of the result, by accusing the network of constantly giving space to Republican opponents and to the Democratic opposition.
Trump, on the other hand, defended the role he had played during the campaign. In a previous interview with CBS News, he said that he had traveled around the country for 29 days and participated in 33 campaign events. In his view, those appearances had succeeded in transforming an election that was anticipated as a major Republican defeat into a more competitive contest.
From the offer of dialogue to the threat of the veto
In a conversation with The New York Times during election night, the president said that he was "absolutely willing to accept" the results and expressed his intention to negotiate with the new Democratic majority. "We will work with the Democrats and hope to work with them. We will probably reach some agreement," he said.
However, he has also made clear that he will not give up using presidential prerogatives to stop opposition initiatives. In an interview with CBS News before the polls closed, he warned that he would resort to the veto if the Democrats controlled Congress. "I have the ultimate power: it’s called veto," he said. After his conversation with The New York Times, he posted on Truth Social the image of a red cap with that same word.
In another interview, this time with Fox News, he insisted that he maintains good personal relationships with some Democratic leaders and that he is willing to talk with them, although he emphasized that his veto power will remain decisive. He also opened the door to agreements on immigration matters, but warned that he will block proposals he considers unacceptable.
No changes in the cabinet and criticism of Republican candidates
Trump ruled out a reshuffling of his Government team as a consequence of the results. He also rejected that the defeat forces him to modify his political strategy and said that some Republican candidates had not known how to defend their own campaigns.
One of his most direct reproaches was against the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, defeated by the Democrat Gina Hinojosa. On Truth Social, Trump called him a "RINO" —an acronym for "Republican In Name Only," an expression used to question a leader’s loyalty to Republican principles— and attributed his defeat to a change of strategy during the last months of the campaign.