Trump deflects blame for midterms rout but says accepts results

President Donald Trump said Tuesday in Washington that he would accept the US midterm election results after Democrats took control of the House and Senate, while blaming Republican candidates for the party’s losses. He said Republicans would have won by a landslide if he had been on the ballot and later posted a picture of his MAGA hat with the word “VETO.” The White House signaled a defiant response, including stronger efforts to oppose Democrats and possible renewed military action against Iran.

Trump told The New York Times, “We’ll work with the Democrats,” and said, “We’ll probably work something out.”

Trump said Texas Governor Greg Abbott lost because he had become a “RINO,” or Republican In Name Only.

A White House official said candidate quality mattered and argued Trump had promoted many Republican candidates better than they promoted themselves.

The White House official said voters who chose Democrats could regret their decision if gas prices fell quickly after the Iran conflict was resolved.

Trump said he would become a political pundit and explain why Republicans lost.

Published Nov 4, 2026 1:32 pm KST

Updated Nov 4, 2026 2:24 pm KST

US President Donald Trump takes his hat off for a moment, as he leaves after he delivered remarks ahead of the midterm elections at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC, US, Nov. 2. Reuters-Yonhap

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would accept the results of US midterm elections -- but quickly sought to shift the blame for the historic rout to his fellow Republicans.

Time and again on the campaign trail the 80-year-old told Republicans to "pretend I'm on the ballot." That may have been exactly the problem, as voters put Democrats in control of the House and Senate.

But Trump has never been one to take the blame, and in his first reaction to the election results Tuesday he insisted that the Republican Party would have won in a "landslide" if he had actually been running.

"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.

Dismissing speculation about whether he would repeat his refusal to accept his 2020 presidential election loss to Joe Biden, Trump later took a conciliatory tone with the New York Times.

"I am absolutely willing to accept those results," he told The New York Times. "We'll work with the Democrats, and we'll, you know, look forward to working with them. We'll probably work something out."

But Trump later gave a hint of what he really intended to do to Democratic attempts at legislating, posting a picture of his trademark red MAGA baseball hat with the single word: "VETO."

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.

"The White House mood is defiant," a White House official told AFP.

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."

A White House official questioned the quality of Republican candidates for the House and Senate.

Many of them Trump had endorsed 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.

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

Trump himself added 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."

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."

Trump had appeared agitated before the first results even came in, posting a string of angry messages on social media lashing out at conservative broadcaster Fox News's coverage.

In one post sent as the first polls closed, Trump said Fox's ratings were "way down, not because of me, but because they are AGAINST me!"

周二，唐纳德·特朗普总统在华盛顿表示，他将接受美国中期选举结果，此前民主党赢得了众议院和参议院的控制权。同时，他指责共和党候选人导致该党败选。他声称，如果他参选，共和党将会以压倒性优势获胜。随后，他发布了一张自己戴着“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）帽子的照片，帽子上写着“否决”（VETO）。白宫则释放出强烈的反抗信号，包括加大力度反对民主党，以及可能重启对伊朗的军事行动。

特朗普告诉《纽约时报》：“我们会与民主党人合作”，并表示：“我们可能会找到解决办法。”

特朗普称德克萨斯州州长格雷格·阿博特败选是因为他成了“名义上的共和党人”（RINO）。

一位白宫官员表示，候选人的素质很重要，并辩称特朗普对许多共和党候选人的宣传比他们自己宣传得更好。

白宫官员表示，如果伊朗冲突解决后汽油价格迅速下跌，那么选择民主党的选民可能会后悔自己的决定。

特朗普表示，他将成为一名政治评论员，解释共和党人失败的原因。

发布于2026年11月4日下午1:32（韩国标准时间）

更新于2026年11月4日下午2:24（韩国标准时间）

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普于11月2日在美国华盛顿特区林肯纪念堂倒影池发表中期选举前讲话后离开，期间他脱帽致意片刻。（路透社-韩联社）

华盛顿——唐纳德·特朗普总统周二表示，他将接受美国中期选举的结果——但很快试图将这场历史性惨败的责任推卸给他的共和党同僚。

在竞选过程中，这位80岁的老人反复告诉共和党人“假装我的名字在选票上”。这可能正是问题所在，因为选民最终让民主党控制了众议院和参议院。

但特朗普从来都不是一个会承担责任的人，在周二对选举结果的第一反应中，他坚称如果他真的参选，共和党将会以“压倒性优势”获胜。

“我的名字不在选票上，如果我在的话，我们肯定会大获全胜！感谢大家对此事的关注，”特朗普在他的“真相社交”平台上发帖说道。

特朗普驳斥了有关他是否会像2020年拒绝接受总统选举败给乔·拜登的猜测，后来他对《纽约时报》采取了和解的语气。

“我完全愿意接受这些结果，”他告诉《纽约时报》。“我们会与民主党人合作，而且我们期待与他们合作。我们或许能找到解决办法。”

但特朗普后来暗示了他真正打算如何对待民主党的立法尝试，他发布了一张自己标志性的红色 MAGA 棒球帽的照片，上面只有一个词：“否决”。

特朗普和他的高级内阁成员在豪华的东厅招待会上看着惨重的选举结果出炉，白宫里弥漫着一种“地堡心态”。

一位白宫官员告诉法新社：“白宫的气氛是挑衅的。”

一些白宫工作人员从美国连锁餐厅芝士蛋糕工厂（The Cheesecake Factory）点了外卖——这是对民主党前总统巴拉克·奥巴马的讽刺，奥巴马曾说特朗普的白宫翻修工程“看起来就像萨达姆·侯赛因开了一家芝士蛋糕工厂”。

一位白宫官员质疑共和党众议院和参议院候选人的素质。

其中许多候选人都得到了特朗普的支持，特朗普还走遍全国各地为他们争取支持——甚至在一次竞选中，特朗普还对俄亥俄州共和党参议员候选人乔恩·赫斯特的“屁股”大加赞赏。

白宫官员表示：“候选人的素质很重要，特朗普总统在宣传许多候选人方面做得比候选人自己做得更好。”

特朗普本人后来补充说，他将“成为一名政治评论员”，并解释共和党失败的原因。

特朗普首先攻击的目标是忠诚的德克萨斯州州长格雷格·阿博特，他被民主党人吉娜·希诺霍萨击败。特朗普说，如果阿博特没有沦为“名义上的共和党人”（RINO），“他就不会输掉选举”。

现在的问题是，在民主党控制众议院和参议院的情况下，特朗普将如何应对他第二个任期最后两年成为跛脚鸭总统的局面。

白宫方面表示，特朗普不太可能就此罢休。

伊朗问题一直萦绕在他的心头，外界普遍猜测总统将恢复对德黑兰的大规模军事行动——加倍投入这场选民已经明确憎恶的战争。

白宫官员表示：“今天投票给民主党的人，当伊朗冲突解决后汽油价格迅速下降，但他们仍然要面对一长串自由派极端民主党人时，一定会后悔莫及。”

白宫还暗示将对他的政治对手进行报复。

最后要强调一点：无论今天的结果如何，特朗普总统阻止激进左翼的决心只会更加坚定。做好准备吧。

甚至在第一批结果出来之前，特朗普就显得很激动，他在社交媒体上发布了一系列愤怒的信息，抨击保守派广播公司福克斯新闻的报道。

在第一批投票结束后发布的一条帖子中，特朗普表示，福克斯新闻的收视率“大幅下降，不是因为我，而是因为他们反对我！”