Trump says he'll accept midterm results, work with Democrats as Republican losses mount

As Republican losses mounted in Tuesday's midterm elections, US President Donald Trump said he was prepared to accept the results and work with the Democratic Party. However, he distanced himself from any responsibility for the party's poor showing, emphasizing that his name was not on the ballot.

According to The New York Times, Trump made the remarks in an interview conducted around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. "I am totally willing to accept the results of the midterm elections," he said. "We will work with the Democrats, and we look forward to working with them. Perhaps we can reach some kind of agreement."

The comments were widely interpreted as a tacit concession that Republicans had lost the midterms. Democrats had previously raised concerns that Trump might refuse to accept the results if the party swept both the Senate and House races.

Trump also noted that Republican candidate Darlene Graham had lost the Senate race in South Carolina, traditionally a Republican stronghold. "Darlene lost. Surprising," he said.

Trump went on to say that former Sen. Lindsey Graham — Darlene's older brother, who died suddenly in July and had been one of Trump's closest allies — would have won had he been the one running.

On Truth Social, Trump wrote: "I wasn't on the ballot. If I was, we would have won big."

The remarks were seen as an attempt to shift blame for the Republican losses onto the party and its candidates.

A White House official echoed the sentiment to reporters. "President Trump was not on the ballot. When he is, it has been proven that Trump voters show up," the official said. "Also, candidate quality matters. President Trump promoted the candidates more effectively than the candidates promoted themselves."

The argument, in effect, was that Trump had done everything he could through campaign rallies and other support, and that the candidates themselves had fallen short.

Trump had repeatedly sought to distance himself from the Republican Party as public sentiment soured over high inflation tied to the war with Iran and the midterm outlook turned against Republicans — each time deflecting responsibility onto the party.