A blue wave indeed hit America in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, a definitive rebuke of President Donald Trump.
Trump has traveled to over 30 places
this fall trying to stave off Republican losses, but it wasn't enough. Democrats flipped Senate seats in traditionally red states like Texas, Kansas and South Carolina, and have already won back control of both chambers of Congress, though some races have yet to be called.The Democratic wins were obvious early on Tuesday night, and Trump watched the results from the White House. Though Trump was heavily involved in the midterm campaigns, he sought to distance himself from the losses. Here is what he had to say:
What was Donald Trump's reaction to the midterms?
Trump told the
New York Times in a phone interview on Nov. 3 he was "absolutely willing" to accept the results of the midterm elections.
Trump repeatedly blamed the fact that he wasn't on the ballot for the loss.
"I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!" he wrote on Truth Social, repeating the same thing for the Times, CBS News and Politico's Dasha Burns when she called him on election night.
"They didn't like the candidates in most cases," Trump told Burns. "We're gonna work with the Democrats to make sure things go well for our country, very important."
Though he also posted a mockup of his signature red hat with "VETO" on the front, he said in the Politico interview that he doesn't want to be "just sitting there for two years vetoing everything." He also called the veto the "ultimate power," but it can be overruled with a two-thirds vote.
"My message is, congratulations to the Democrats, and I look forward to working with you for the good of our country," he told CBS News.
CBS News asked Trump if he was upset, and he said he "tried hard" and "left it on the field."
Trump reacts to Texas turning blue
Trump refrained from calling out specific candidates when asked by Politico, but he did call out one on Truth Social.
"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!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Abbott, the three-term Republican governor, lost to Democrat Gina Hinojosa for the Lone Star State's governor's seat. In early October, Abbott skipped one of Trump's midterm campaign blitz stops to San Antonio. Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton also lost to Democrat James Talarico for the U.S. Senate seat.
Contributing: Zac Anderson, USA TODAY
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. She is reporting from Maine for the 2026 midterm elections. Reach her at KCrowley@usatodayco.com. Follow her on Instagram and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What was Donald Trump's reaction to the midterms after big GOP losses?
