'Absolutely Willing': Donald Trump Vows To Work With Democrats After 'Blue Wave' Midterm Defeat

President Donald Trump has vowed he is 'absolutely willing' to accept a sweeping Democratic victory in the 2026 US midterm elections and to work with his rivals in Congress, even as he insisted he would have won 'in a landslide' if his name had been on the ballot.

Trump reacted to the results in a Truth Social post and interviews on Tuesday, 3 November, as Democrats secured major victories in several Senate races, including in South Carolina and Texas, and won control of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The news came after months in which Trump had campaigned across the country for Republican candidates, with control of both chambers of Congress at stake. His party entered Election Day defending its governing majority, while Democrats sought to turn public frustration over the conflict in Iran, tariffs and the cost of living into seats.

Donald Trump Midterms Reaction

In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump wrote: '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.'

Speaking to The New York Times after Democrats won multiple Senate races, Trump said he was prepared to work with the opposition and would not challenge the midterm results.

'We'll, you know, look forward to working with them,' he said. 'We'll probably work something out.'

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump said Republicans and Democrats could either cooperate or clash.

'I think we'll work with the Democrats, and we'll get along very well with them. If we don't, we'll be very tough on them, they'll be very tough on us,' he said, adding that he would use his 'veto power' if necessary.

Asked whether the war in Iran had contributed to the losses, Trump said it was 'a piece of it'. He did not express regret, saying, 'I don't think about it. I did the right thing. I would have done it again.'

A Campaign Built Around Trump

In the final weeks of the campaign, President Donald Trump held rallies across the country in support of Republican candidates, presenting the election as a test of his second-term agenda.

The day before Americans went to the polls, Trump told the New York Post's Miranda Devine on her Pod Force One podcast that he was prepared to issue pre-emptive pardons for staff and allies if Democrats took Congress.

'I would if I needed to. Sure,' he said. 'We'll have to protect them.'

About a month earlier, Trump told Time magazine that he would not rule out deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at polling places. Asked whether he would send ICE to the polls, he said he would not 'rule anything out or in'.

After The New York Times reported that parts of an upper deck were empty by the end of his Ohio event on 4 October, Trump said the newspaper 'should be arrested'.

In a Truth Social post the following day, he wrote that 'thousands of people were unable to get in' and that the arena was 'totally MAXED OUT, including all upper sections'. He devoted at least seven posts to the subject, according to the reporting.

'We Shouldn't Even Have an Election'

In a 14 January interview with Reuters, months before the campaign intensified, President Donald Trump suggested that the United States might be better off without midterm elections.

'It's some deep psychological thing, but when you win the presidency, you don't win the midterms,' he said.

He also said that the first year of his second term had gone so well that, 'when you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election'.

In May, Trump announced plans for what he called an 'election integrity army' ahead of the 2026 vote. In a Truth Social post on 10 May, he claimed Republicans had such a force in every state during the 2024 election, which he won against Kamala Harris.

'We will be doing the same again in 2026, but it will be much bigger and stronger,' he wrote. 'All Americans should have their voices be heard by casting a vote. Be assured this Election will be fair!'