President Donald Trump vowed to veto “insane” legislation from Democrats following the party’s major midterm election victories Tuesday, while acknowledging that rising gasoline prices stemming from the conflict with Iran likely contributed to Republican losses.
Trump, who posted an image of a red hat with the word “Veto” to Truth Social late Tuesday night, told Fox News Channel during live Election Night coverage that he was surprised by the GOP’s performance but expressed confidence that he could work with Democrats despite their electoral gains.
“They’ll send over things that are insane and I’ll veto them,” Trump said. “And after a couple of months of vetoes, they’ll go out and they’ll say, ‘How do we get this stuff done?’ And we’ll work together.”
TRUMP CONGRATULATES DEMOCRATS AFTER DOMINANT MIDTERMS, SAYS HE LOOKS FORWARD TO WORKING WITH THEM
Democrats seized control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, flipping at least seven Republican-held Senate seats and more than two dozen House districts. The sweeping victories dealt a major blow to Trump and the GOP, leaving Democrats positioned to block the president’s legislative agenda, reject his nominees and launch investigations into his administration during his final two years in office.
The president pointed to his veto authority as a negotiating tool and revealed that several Democratic lawmakers had already reached out to him.
“You know, I have a lot of friends that are Democrats, believe it or not. I’ve already spoken to some of them,” Trump said, adding that he had spoken with Democratic members of Congress, with others waiting to call.
Trump also addressed the GOP’s disappointing election-night performance, suggesting that Americans were reacting more to higher gasoline prices than to the military campaign against Iran itself.
STATE OF PLAY: BLUE WAVE SWEEPS DEMOCRATS INTO POWER, WITH KEY RACES STILL HANGING IN BALANCE
“I don’t think it’s the war, Bret, I think it’s the gasoline price,” Trump told “Special Report” anchor Bret Baier. “People agree with what I’m doing on Iran, but they really probably weren’t willing to do the short-term consequence of paying more for gasoline.”
Trump defended his administration’s actions against Iran, arguing that the economic consequences were temporary and necessary to achieve longer-term national security objectives.
“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 said. “I think historically it’s going to be much more important than this evening, because you can’t let the number one state sponsor of terror have a nuclear weapon.”
The president also blamed some Republican candidates for failing to energize his supporters, arguing that enthusiasm at his campaign rallies did not necessarily translate into votes for those he endorsed.
“I’m a little bit surprised. I thought they’d do better,” Trump said. “We had tremendous rallies. We had about 30 of them.”
Trump said some candidates had alienated his MAGA base by previously opposing him, while others simply failed to inspire voters to turn out.
‘POD SAVE AMERICA’ HOSTS CALL DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S MIDTERM WINS ‘THE END OF THE TRUMP ERA’
“They didn’t like the candidates and some of the candidates that I endorsed fought me, and they didn’t like that they fought me,” Trump said.
“And I wasn’t on the ballot. If I was on the ballot, they would have gotten out,” he added.
Despite expressing disappointment over Republican losses, Trump praised Democrats for their performance while rejecting the suggestion that the results amounted to a personal defeat.
“I think the Democrats did a good job, I really do. I think they did a good job. They fought hard,” Trump said.
“I don’t like to consider it a defeat,” he added. “If you’re on the ballot, it’s different than if you’re not on the ballot.”