Democrats Take Control of Congress... Trump: I Will Use 'Veto'

US President Donald Trump praised his Democratic opponents after their clear victory in the midterm elections, which saw them gain control of both chambers of Congress as well as numerous governorships. In a phone interview with Fox News, he said, “Congratulations to the Democrats. They did a very good job.” He added, “They pursued this for 11 years and finally achieved it. But I don’t view it as a blow aimed at me.” Speaking to The New York Times, he said, “I am fully prepared to accept those results. We will work with the Democrats, and as you know, we look forward to cooperating with them. We will likely reach understandings.” However, he simultaneously warned that he was ready to use his executive authority to veto any legislation passed by the Democrats “if necessary.” He told Fox News, “They can send me 50 wonderful bills they are enthusiastic about, and I will return them to them stamped with a beautiful seal that says: Veto.”

Trump adopted a sharper tone toward his own Republican Party, which had repeatedly urged him during the campaign to “act as if my name is on the ballots.” He wrote on his platform, Truth Social, “I was not on the ballots, but even if I had been, we would have achieved a landslide victory.” A White House official stated that “candidate effectiveness matters, and President Trump did a better job promoting many of the candidates running in the elections than the candidates themselves did.”

The Iran file continues to occupy Trump’s attention, amid anticipation over whether he will resume strikes against Tehran. He believed that the war with Iran played a role in the Republican Party’s loss in the midterm elections. In his Fox News interview, Trump said, “I think it was partly due to Iran, but at the same time, people understood the importance of what I did with Iran.” Vice President JD Vance echoed this sentiment, attributing the loss to the war with Iran, stating, “The Iran war caused our defeat in the elections, but the cost was worth it,” affirming that President Trump himself had said so.

Vance predicted that “there will be much internal disagreement and debate about what happened in the elections, and many of those who voted for us in the 2024 elections voted for the Democrats in this election.” A White House official added that “everyone who voted for the Democrats will experience deep regret over their choice when fuel prices drop rapidly once the Iran dispute is resolved, but they will still be stuck with a group of liberal extremist Democrats.”

Meanwhile, Democrats secured at least 54 seats against 44 for Republicans in the 100-seat Senate, while they won approximately 228 seats compared to 139 for Republicans in the House of Representatives, according to preliminary results. Democrats also won 28 governorships against 20 for Republicans. Even before final turnout figures were released, the Florida Election Lab at the University of Florida reported that more than 61.7 million voters had cast their ballots early, prior to Election Day.

This figure sets a new record for early voting in the U.S. midterm elections, benefiting Democrats, who typically turn out for early voting at higher rates than Republican voters. National Public Radio (NPR) reported that the numbers showed heavy turnout among Black Americans, young people, and other groups that usually support Democratic candidates.

Total spending in the 2026 midterm elections reached a record $11.9 billion, significantly higher than the $8.9 billion spent in 2022, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan organization specializing in tracking U.S. political spending. According to OpenSecrets, candidates for the House and Senate spent an unprecedented $3.7 billion from their campaign budgets, with Democrats outspending Republicans by $800 million.

In Texas, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico broke records by raising a staggering $145 million, several times the amount raised by his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton ($22 million), who was forced to rely on outside groups to fund his campaign.

For the first time in 94 years, Kansas voters chose a Democrat to represent them in the U.S. Senate, as Adam Hamilton unseated the incumbent Republican Senator, Roger Marshall. Hamilton, a pastor at a large Methodist church who had been registered as a Republican until recently, became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in this rural, conservative state since 1932. Texas also leaned Democratic for the first time in decades, as Talarico achieved a surprising victory, capturing a Senate seat in the state for the first time since 1988, the year before Talarico was born.

In South Carolina, a break from the usual historical pattern occurred as Senator Darlene Graham, who had been appointed earlier that year to fill the seat of her late brother, Lindsey Graham, lost to Democratic candidate Annie Andrews. No Democrat from South Carolina has been elected to the Senate since 1998.

Democrats won seats in traditionally Republican strongholds, including South Carolina, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, and Maine. Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper won Michael Waltz’s seat. In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown defeated Republican John Husted for the Senate seat. In Maine, Troy Jackson challenged incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins, and Democrat Jay D. Ford won the House seat held by Republican Victoria Spartz in Indiana.

In Georgia, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won, becoming the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history, ending 24 years of Republican control of the office. Democrats also retained crucial Senate seats, such as in Georgia, where Jon Ossoff won re-election to a new term.