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By Lars Hanson and Alice Gibbs
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As the Democrats take control of Congress, President Donald Trump and the White House are pushing back against the significance of Republican losses across the country.
A White House official told Newsweek on Wednesday that the administration’s mood was “defiant” and argued that Trump’s absence from the ballot and the quality of Republican candidates helped explain the results.
"President Trump was not on the ballot, and it’s proven that Trump voters show up when he is on the ballot," the official said. "Also, candidate quality matters, and President Trump did a better job promoting many of the candidates on the ballot than the candidates did themselves."
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On Wednesday morning, the administration's mood was made clear on social media, too. The official White House account shared on X: "PSA: Trump is still your president," echoing an earlier post by White House Director of Communications Steven Chueng, who said: "Donald J. Trump is the President of the United States. Still your President!"
“Regardless of how today plays out, President Trump’s resolve to stop the Radical Left is only going to become stronger,” the White House official said, adding, “Buckle up.”
Trump distanced himself from Republicans’ midterm losses Tuesday night, writing on Truth Social: “I wasn’t on the ballot, and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”
Even before the results revealed the Democrats had flipped the Senate and the House, the president had already begun turning on his usual allies, including Fox News.
“Watching the Pre-Election Results on FoxNews, but I can’t stand Jessica Tarlov’s voice—DUMB AS A ROCK, but it’s the voice that gets me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Have to go somewhere else until that LOSER is off the air—I’ll be back later!” he wrote on Truth Social as results started to be called.
The criticism did not stop there. As anchor Greg Gutfeld read aloud a text message he said he received from Trump with additional critique of Tarlov, Trump continued to share thoughts on Fox’s coverage on social media.
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“The FoxNews Poll, always the worst, is so insulting with the questions they ask. Every question is a hit job, and every answer is "BULLS***!" he wrote on Truth Social, before taking aim at the network’s ratings writing: “FoxNews Ratings are way down (27%!) because they’re spending too much time covering the Trump Deranged Dumocrats!”
He even blamed the network for the losses, adding: "FoxNews bears responsibility for these losses by constantly and consistently putting on the Dumocrat opposition, and worse."
Democrats have now won control of both the House and Senate, ending unified Republican control of Washington. The Senate result expanded well beyond North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, with Democrat breakthroughs including Kansas, Iowa and Michigan.
Speaking to The New York Times from the White House as results came in, Trump said he had no regrets about endorsing Sen. Darline Graham and Ken Paxton, and that he would accept the results. “I am absolutely willing to accept those results,” he said.
But posts online simultaneously signaled confrontation from the president as he posted an image of a red cap bearing the word “VETO,” a possible indication of how he could respond to legislation from the incoming Democratic Congress.
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Despite attacking the network, Trump also called in to Fox News on Tuesday night, where he attributed the Republican losses to the candidates and high gas prices. “They didn’t like the candidates, and some of the candidates that I endorsed fought me, and they didn’t like it,” he said.
Asked about the war with Iran showing up in exit polls, Trump said: “I think it’s the gasoline price.” Gas prices were above $4 a gallon nationally on Election Day and had emerged as a significant issue for voters during the campaign.
Trump also gave Democrats credit for their performance. “I think the Democrats did a good job. I really do,” he said. “They fought hard.” But he resisted viewing the results as a personal defeat, saying he doesn’t “like to consider it a defeat for me” and adding: “If you’re on the ballot, it’s different than if you’re not on the ballot.”
Trump also presented the night as history repeating itself rather than a judgment on him. “It’s just a point in time,” he said. “There was a mood in the air, I guess.” He noted that a sitting president’s party almost always loses ground in a midterm. “No matter how good the president is, you lose,” Trump said. “I don’t know why. Nobody’s explained that.”
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gray R. Thomas
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