WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump said late Tuesday evening he is willing to work with Democrats after Republicans suffered big midterm losses and lost control of both the House and Senate.
“I am absolutely willing to accept those results,” Trump told The New York Times. “We’ll work with the Democrats, and we’ll, you know, look forward to working with them. We’ll probably work something out.”
In a separate interview with Politico, Trump said he had already spoken with some Democratic Party leaders, though he did not specify names.
“They’ve already called, and they want to work with me,” Trump said.
Trump added that he doesn’t want to waste the next two years vetoing every measure.
When asked whether he would agree to immigration reform, Trump said he would consider doing whatever is “appropriate and good for the country.”
Trump also defended his decision regarding Iran.
“I am totally convinced that my decision on Iran for the long-term good of our country and even the world was an absolutely correct one, and it continues to be,” Trump told Politico.
The president earlier said Republican losses were due to his absence from the ballot, soon after Democrats scored key victories in House and Senate races.
“I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP,” he wrote Tuesday evening on Truth Social.
Separately, Trump wrote: “I’m going to become a Political Pundit, both good and bad, on the reasons these Candidates won and lost!”
The president also told The New York Times he had no regrets about endorsing Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) or Texas Republican Ken Paxton, who both unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate seats.
But he took aim at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after his failed reelection bid.
“If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn’t become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn’t have lost. He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty!” he wrote on Truth Social.
A White House official echoed the president’s statements in an email. The White House is in a defiant mood as election results come in, the official said, blaming turnout and candidate quality for Democratic wins.
Democrats won many of the contested U.S. Senate races by 11:30 p.m. ET and scored a number of victories in other contests.
“The White House mood is defiant,” the official said in the email. “President Trump was not on the ballot, and it’s proven that Trump voters show up when he is on the ballot.
“Also, candidate quality matters,” the official continued. “President Trump did a better job promoting many of the candidates on the ballot than the candidates did themselves.”
Trump, his Cabinet officials, and political advisers have gathered in the White House East Room to watch the results.
According to the White House official, voters who backed Democrats might start feeling “a serious case of buyer’s remorse” once the Iran war ends and gas prices start to fall.
Regardless of how the election plays out, the official said, “Trump’s resolve to stop the radical left is only going to become stronger. Buckle up.”
Speaking to Fox News, Trump congratulated Democrats on their midterm victories but said he didn’t view the results as a rejection of his leadership.
“Congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job. They’ve been looking for this one for 11 years, and they finally got it,“ Trump said. ”But I don’t view it as a hit on me. I think we’ve done … We’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency.”
Ahead of Election Day, polls and projections suggested Democrats were favored to gain control of the House, but the Senate remained up in the air with tight races across seven states: Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas.
With Republicans holding six of those seven contested Senate seats, Democrats needed a net gain of four to flip the chamber.
At the time of publication, Democrats surpassed expectations, securing key Senate victories in states including North Carolina, Georgia, New Hampshire, Texas, South Carolina, Kansas, Ohio, and Iowa.
Gaining control of Congress would grant Democrats significant power to thwart Trump’s agenda during his final two years in office. However, questions remain about how effectively they could push back.
The president said before the election that he was prepared to “veto everything” Congress sends him until he reaches a deal.
“I guess I’ll become Mr. Veto,” he said in an interview with the New York Post’s Miranda Devine, aired on Fox News on Nov. 1, when asked how he would deal with a potentially Democratic-controlled Congress.
“And then at some point, we’ll probably make deals. That’s what’s happened to me. This wouldn’t be the first time you’ll have a president, and he won’t have the House or the Senate.”
Jackson Richman contributed to this report.
We had a problem loading this article. Please enable javascript or use a different browser. If the issue persists, please visit our help center.