White House turns funereal as Trump rages at aides, blames others on election night

President Donald Trump erupted in anger Tuesday (local time) as midterm election results pointed to a sweeping Republican defeat, lashing out at aides and posting a string of blame-shifting messages on SNS.

According to The New York Times, Trump watched the returns that evening in the White House East Room alongside his most senior advisers, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Todd Blanche and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

People in the room described the atmosphere to The New York Times as "dark" and "funereal." Some attendees began leaving before 10 p.m.

Throughout the evening, Trump berated his political aides, accusing them of feeding him faulty polling information ahead of the election. The New York Times said it was unclear exactly what Trump meant by the accusation, noting that "Trump's aides had publicly said conditions were difficult for Republicans."

As the vote count grew increasingly grim, Trump turned to his SNS account to assign blame.

He posted that "my name wasn't on the ballot, and if it were, we would have won in a landslide!" before pivoting to an unprompted attack on Fox News. When exit poll results showed his approval rating at 38 percent — the lowest for a sitting president in midterm history — Trump fired back, writing "the problem is them, not me," and claiming his approval rating was "at an all-time high." He cited what he said was a recent CNN poll showing his support among Republicans at 99 percent, and claimed he led all Republican presidents with 53 percent compared to Ronald Reagan's 18 percent and Abraham Lincoln's 8 percent. The survey he referenced could not be verified.

Trump also turned on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican who failed to win a fourth term, saying Abbott "would not have lost if he hadn't gone RINO (Republican In Name Only) during the last 6 months of his political career," blaming the governor's recent move toward a more moderate stance for his defeat.

Trump also attacked Fox News for booking former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a longtime Trump critic, saying the network "is responsible for the loss by continuously and consistently putting on Democrat opposition, and worse, on air." Fox News is widely regarded as a conservative outlet with strong Republican leanings.

Around 10:30 p.m. that night, Trump told The New York Times in an interview that he was "totally willing to accept" the midterm results and that "we will work with the Democrats and look forward to doing so."

But around 11:40 p.m., a photo appeared on his SNS account showing a baseball cap with the word "VETO" printed in white capital letters on a red background — widely interpreted as a signal that he could veto legislation passed by a Congress now controlled by Democrats.