In a striking post-2026 U.S. midterm election turn of events, sitting President Donald Trump has publicly acknowledged that Democratic candidates delivered a standout performance that secured the party full control of both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, a historic electoral upset that broke decades of Republican dominance in key statewide races including Texas.
The president shared his unvarnished reactions across multiple platforms in the hours after results were finalized, starting with a candid, uncharacteristically generous assessment posted to his Truth Social account where he stated flatly, “Democrats did a good job.” That praise for opposing party success was paired with scathing criticism of his own Republican allies, most notably outgoing Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa — marking the first time a Democrat has claimed the Texas governorship in more than 30 years. Trump attributed Abbott’s loss entirely to what he framed as the incumbent’s recent ideological drift, writing that Abbott would have easily secured re-election if he “hadn’t become a RINO in the last six months” of his campaign, invoking the widely used partisan acronym for “Republican in Name Only” that the GOP’s most hardline factions deploy to label officials they deem ideologically disloyal.
Trump went on to claim that his presence on the ballot during the midterms would have delivered a landslide victory for Republican candidates across the board, while simultaneously affirming to *The New York Times* that he fully and unreservedly accepted the certified election results. He told the paper he was prepared to collaborate with the new Democratic congressional majority to advance shared priorities, noting, “We’ll probably work something out” after a period of expected legislative friction.
In a parallel interview with Fox News, the president admitted he had been caught off guard by the scale of the Republican losses, and laid out a clear governing roadmap for the months ahead: he predicted the new Democratic majority would send a slate of what he called “insane” partisan bills to his desk, all of which he would veto immediately. He projected that after roughly two months of sustained vetoes, Democratic leaders would reach out to negotiate compromise legislation that both parties could support. To underscore this planned strategy, Trump shared an image on Truth Social of a custom red cap modeled after his iconic “Make America Great Again” campaign headwear, emblazoned with the single word “VETO” in bold lettering.
As the full scope of the Republican Party’s underperformance became clear, Trump announced his intention to publish a series of unfiltered political analyses breaking down exactly why certain GOP candidates won and others lost, framing the post-election review as a transparent reckoning for the party. He went on to distance himself from multiple failed Republican contenders, telling CBS News that many losing candidates had been unpopular with voters to begin with, and that a large number of those underperforming candidates were not even personal allies of his.
The president also directed pointed criticism at long-time conservative media ally Fox News in a string of additional Truth Social posts, accusing the network of devoting excessive airtime to covering Democratic candidates during election night coverage. He claimed the network’s plummeting viewership ratings were not tied to his own recent coverage of the outlet, but stemmed from Fox’s purported bias against him. He specifically called out the network’s decision to feature an interview with former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, whom he derided as the worst mayor in the city’s entire history, adding that de Blasio left office in disgrace after inflicting incalculable harm on New York City residents.
Trump takes aim at Republicans but says Democrats did a ‘good job’
