US President Donald Trump congratulates Democrats on midterms, says Iran war played role

President Donald Trump had rare praise for rival Democrats Tuesday after their stunning US midterm elections victory and admitted the Iran war may have played a part in the defeat of his Republican Party.

But the 80-year-old refused to take any personal responsibility for the result that upends the final two years of his presidency, instead trying to shift the blame to his fellow Republicans.

“Well, I say this: congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job,” Trump said in a telephone interview with FOX News Democracy 26.

“They’ve been looking for this one for 11 years, and they finally got it. But I don’t view it as a hit on me.”

The complimentary comments were highly unusual for Trump, who spent much of the midterms campaign branding Democrats as everything from communists to Islamists.

Trump also reiterated that, unlike his 2020 presidential election loss, he accepted the vote results and was ready to work with Democrats now that they will control Congress.

“I can work with them on many things,” Trump said.

At the same time, Trump warned he was ready to use his executive power to veto any Democratic legislation he felt like.

“They can send over, you know, 50 different great bills that they’re all excited about, and I send them back with a nice stamp — ‘veto.'”

With polls showing the Iran war and resulting rise in oil prices was vastly unpopular with voters, Trump also acknowledged that the stalled conflict had contributed to the result.

“I think a part of it was Iran, but at the same time, people understood the importance of what I’ve done with Iran,” Trump told Fox.

Yet Trump’s conciliatory tone did not extend to his own party.

Time and again on the campaign trail the 80-year-old told Republicans to “pretend I’m on the ballot.” But on Tuesday he insisted that the opposite was the problem.

“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,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

‘Buckle up’

Trump posted later that he was going to “become a political pundit” and give the reasons why Republicans lost.

First in his crosshairs was Greg Abbott, the loyal Texas governor unseated by Democrat Gina Hinojosa. Trump said that if Abbott hadn’t become a “RINO” (Republican In Name Only) “he wouldn’t have lost.”

Many of them Trump had hand-picked and traveled across the country to rally support for — even lavishing praise, in one case, on the “ass” of Republican Ohio Senate candidate Jon Husted.

But the White House also called the quality of the Republicans into question.

“Candidate quality matters, and President Trump did a better job promoting many of the candidates on the ballot than the candidates did themselves,” a White House official said.

Earlier, there was a bunker mentality in the White House as Trump and his top cabinet members watched the bruising results come in at a reception in the lavish East Room.

Some White House staffers dined on take-out from US chain restaurant The Cheesecake Factory — a dig at Democratic former president Barack Obama, who had said Trump’s White House renovations were “looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”

The question now is how Trump will react to being a lame duck president for the last two years of his second term, with Democrats in control of both the House and Senate.

The White House indicated that Trump is unlikely to go quietly.

Iran is on his mind and there is widespread speculation that the president will resume large-scale military action against Tehran — doubling down on a war that it is now clear voters loathed.

“Anyone who voted Democrat today is going to have a serious case of buyer’s remorse when gas prices come down quickly when the Iran conflict is solved but they’re still stuck with a list of liberal extremist Democrats,” the White House official said.

The White House also gave a dark hint of retribution against his political enemies.

“A final note here: regardless of how today plays out, President Trump’s resolve to stop the Radical Left is only going to become stronger. Buckle up.”

Safeguard press freedom; keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team

Support HKFP  |  Policies & Ethics  |  Error/typo?  |  Contact  |  Newsletter  | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps

Make a one-off donation.

Dateline:

Washington, United States

Type of Story: News Service

Produced externally by an organization we trust to adhere to high journalistic standards.