On the night the midterm votes were being counted, the President spoke by phone with CBS News and reached toward the opposition with a courteous word, congratulating Democrats and expressing hope for cooperation, even as the same breath carried a warning that he holds veto power he would not hesitate to use. Asked why his party had fallen short, he located the cause less in the political climate than in his own absence from the ballot, a reflection that casts an election as something shaped by one figure's presence. He also reaffirmed that the war in Iran would end on his own timing, a reminde
Trump Congratulates Democrats on Election Night, Blames Losses on His Absence from the Ballot
"It'll end when I say it ends."
Mark
He congratulated Democrats and then mentioned vetoing everything. How do we read that?
Mimi
As both at once. He said he looks forward to working with them for the good of the country, then said they'd want to work with him because otherwise he'd veto everything.
Luke
Worth noting that's his framing of his own leverage. The call doesn't tell us what Democrats think, or what legislation is actually at stake.
Mark
And his explanation for the losses?
Mimi
That he wasn't on the ballot. He said that if he had been, Republicans would have won easily, and that voters stayed home.
Luke
That's his claim, not a finding. The reporting here doesn't include turnout data or analysis showing why voters chose as they did.
Mark
He also said some candidates weren't his friend.
Mimi
Yes, he said some voters disliked candidates and that some weren't his friend, and that the base knows that. It points at a divide inside his own party.
Luke
Though he didn't name any candidates, so we can't say which races he means.
Mark
What about the Iran war comment?
Mimi
He said it will end when he says it ends. It was separate from the election talk.
Luke
And it's a short remark. No timeline, no conditions, nothing we can verify beyond that he said it.
O Pulso
- The president offered congratulations to Democrats while attaching a veto threat that signals the coming legislative fight will not be gentle.
- Republicans are reeling from losses he attributes to his own absence from the ballot and to candidates voters rejected or he did not endorse.
- He insists he fought hard and left everything on the field, framing the defeats as a passing moment rather than a verdict on the party's direction.
- Foreign policy surfaces in the same conversation as he declares the Iran war will end only when he chooses, offering no timeline.
- The trajectory now hinges on whether the conciliatory tone becomes real bargaining or hardens into a standoff with an emboldened opposition.
On the night the midterm votes were being counted, the President spoke by phone with CBS News and reached toward the opposition with a courteous word, congratulating Democrats and expressing hope for cooperation, even as the same breath carried a warning that he holds veto power he would not hesitate to use. Asked why his party had fallen short, he located the cause less in the political climate than in his own absence from the ballot, a reflection that casts an election as something shaped by one figure's presence. He also reaffirmed that the war in Iran would end on his own timing, a reminder that for him the question of when conflict concludes remains a personal decision rather than a shared one.
President Trump took a phone call from CBS News on election night and opened with something unexpected for a sitting president: congratulations to the Democrats on their wins. He said he looked forward to working with them for the good of the country, and claimed to know many Democrats personally.
The gesture carried a condition. He described holding total veto power and said that if Democrats refused to cooperate, he would veto everything. He framed cooperation as something they would want, since the alternative would be unpleasant for them.
When the conversation turned to the Republican losses, he returned to one explanation: he had not been on the ballot. Had he been, he said, the party would have won easily. He also pointed to candidates voters disliked and to a base that stayed home. He called the result sad, said he had tried hard and left it all on the field, and described the defeats as one of those things that happen at a point in time.
The call also touched on Iran. Separate from the election, he said the war would end when he decides it should, offering no details on timing or terms.
Two questions now hang over the exchange. Will the conciliatory opening and the veto warning lead to real negotiation with Democrats? And will his account of the losses, centered on his own absence, shape how Republicans prepare for what comes next?
President Trump picked up the phone on election night and, speaking with CBS News, offered the opposing party a message he framed as gracious: congratulations to the Democrats, and a stated hope of working with them for the good of the country.
The warmth came with a qualifier. Trump said he knows a lot of Democrats and holds what he called total veto power, and that he was sure the two sides could work things out. Then he sharpened the point. He said he thought Democrats would want to work with him, because otherwise he would simply veto everything, and they would not want that.
On the question of why so many Republicans lost, his answer was that he had not been on the ballot. He said there was nothing that could be done about that, and that had he been on it, Republicans would have won. In his telling, the problem was partly the candidates themselves. In some cases, he said, voters did not like them, and in some cases the candidates were not his friend, which he said the party's base understands better than anyone. Those voters, he said, stayed home.
He described the result as sad, in the sense that Republicans would have won easily with him on the ballot. He repeated the claim in several forms during the call: the people did not come out as they should have, and if he had been on the ballot, they would have.
Asked whether he was upset, Trump said he had tried hard and left it on the field. He said he had tried to help people get elected and they were not elected, that they could not get elected. He called the outcome one of those things, a point in time, and said it had happened many times before.
The call also touched on foreign policy. Separately from the election, Trump said the Iran war would be over when he says it is over. In his words, it will end when he says it ends. He offered no further detail on timing or terms in the remarks CBS reported.
The call leaves two things to watch. One is whether the conciliatory opening, paired with the veto threat, translates into any actual negotiation with Democrats. The other is whether the president's account of why Republicans lost, centered on his own absence from the ballot and on candidates he did not back, shapes how the party handles what comes next.
Citações Notáveis
If I was on the ballot, we would have won.— President Trump, in a call with CBS News
I look forward to working with you for the good of our country.— President Trump, addressing Democrats
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