Trump says he would have won big as networks give Democrats the House

Early midterm results

Early results from the US midterm elections pointed to losses for Republicans. American television networks projected that Democrats would win control of the House of Representatives. They also projected that two Senate seats, one in North Carolina and one in South Carolina, would pass to the opposition. These figures were the first results to come in, and the final tally was not yet available in these reports. The first reactions from the White House came on Wednesday, 4 November.

Trump's posts and interview

Trump had stayed silent for hours before posting on Truth Social. In that post, he wrote that he had not been a candidate and that, had he been one, Republicans would have won by a landslide. He signed the message 'President Donald J. Trump', a move reported as an effort to present the Republican result as a party outcome rather than a personal defeat. In a New York Times interview on Tuesday, 3 November, he said he was fully willing to accept the results. He also said he would work with Democrats and that the two sides would probably find a way to get along. For now, he did not intend to challenge the election outcome.

Blame over candidate quality

A White House official told ABC that the president was unfazed and sought to free him from responsibility for the losses. The official argued that Trump's voters turn out when he is on the ballot, and said the quality of the Republican candidates had not been what was wanted. NBC News correspondent Garrett Haake reported that a senior administration official put part of the blame on candidate quality. That official said Trump had spent more time backing some Republican candidates than those candidates had spent campaigning themselves. The argument is likely to draw backlash, since several candidates who lost had received his personal endorsement and formal backing. Discussions about the causes of the defeat have started inside the Republican Party.

Campaign appeals and the wider mood

During the campaign Trump had repeatedly urged voters to treat the midterms as a vote of confidence in his presidency. On tours of states where he backed Republican candidates, he often asked audiences to imagine his own name on the ballot. Early figures were described as a punishment vote against the Republican president. Republican strategists and campaign officials voiced concern about the wider political and economic climate. Among the factors they cited were the economy and the party's difficulty in convincing voters that it was dealing effectively with rising cost of living.