President Donald Trump congratulated Democrats after they won majorities in the House and Senate in the midterm elections, while saying he was willing to work with them but would veto legislation he opposed. (Foto: Instagram)
After Democrats secured majorities in the Senate and House in the midterm elections, President Donald Trump acknowledged the defeat and offered rare praise for his rivals on Wednesday, Nov. 4. “Well, I’ll say this: Congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job,” Trump said in a phone interview with Fox News.
Trump sought to distance himself personally from the result, which will reshape the final two years of his term, and appeared to shift responsibility toward fellow Republicans. “They [the Democrats] had been waiting for this for 11 years, and they finally got it. But I don’t see it as a blow against me,” he said. The praise was unusual: During much of the campaign, Trump had described Democrats as everything from communists to Islamists.
Trump said he had accepted the election results and was willing to work with Democrats as they take control of Congress, unlike his response after losing the 2020 presidential election. “I can work with them on many issues,” he said. He also warned that he was prepared to use his executive power to veto Democratic legislation. “They can send, say, 50 excellent bills that they’re all excited about. I’ll simply send them back with a very clear stamp: ‘Veto,’” he said.
Trump acknowledged that the Iran conflict may have affected the outcome. Polls indicated that the war and the resulting rise in oil prices were highly unpopular with voters. “I think Iran played a role in this, but at the same time, people understood the importance of what I did regarding Iran,” he told Fox News.
His conciliatory tone toward Democrats did not extend to his own party. During the campaign, Trump repeatedly urged Republicans to act as though he were on the ballot. On Tuesday, however, he argued that his absence from the ballot had worked against Republicans. “I wasn’t on the ballot, and if I had been, we would have won in a landslide. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he wrote on Truth Social.
