Trump: work with Democrats if they want common ground; veto what he opposes
Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, taking the House and Senate in midterm elections that cost Republicans Senate seats in Maine, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Kansas and Iowa. The result leaves President Trump with two years left in office and a divided government. Damian Paletta, The Wall Street Journal’s Washington coverage chief, wrote that Trump must decide quickly among three paths — cutting deals with Democrats, trying to use them as a foil, or continuing the way he has led since January 2025 — and likely won’t have the same control over his own party that he had before.
Paletta also wrote that Trump is now officially a lame duck and will face a number of tough decisions almost immediately. He has covered Washington for 22 years as a reporter and editor, covering the White House, Congress, national security, the federal budget, economics and multiple market meltdowns. The Politics newsletter edition was curated and edited in collaboration with Alistair Dawber, Joe Haberstroh and Mali Michelle Fleming.
Trump said in remarks to The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday night that he would work with Democrats if they wanted to find common ground, but that he would impose vetoes on initiatives he opposed. The president had no public events listed for Wednesday.
The Wall Street Journal described the outcome as a blue shellacking and said Democrats had sent immediate signals that they plan to go right after President Trump.
The Journal said the election results represented a voter response to high inflation, inflated fuel prices, the Iran war launched by Trump and his trade fights with allies. Voters arrived in a sour mood, the paper reported, unhappy with Trump’s performance in office and worried about the cost of living and the country’s direction.
Results from a poll of more than 79,000 registered voters for the Associated Press and all the major television and cable news networks pointed the same way. Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Trump had cast the economy as being on solid ground, but voters disagreed and blamed him for higher prices, with close to two-thirds saying inflation was up more because of his policies.
The Wall Street Journal’s account said the outcome showed that his administration had lost the voters’ trust, with voters preparing to usher in a new era of divided government during his final two years in office.
In Austin, Texas, at Democrat James Talarico’s party, groups of family and friends hugged and several could be overheard expressing how stunned they were to see Democrats finally win a statewide race for the first time in more than 30 years.
In West Palm Beach, Fla., a MAGA crowd gathered and had just gotten a rare bit of good news: Fox News had called the Florida governor’s race for Republican Byron Donalds. “Thank God for little miracles,” one woman cried.
What remains unsettled is how the new majority and the White House manage the next two years, with Paletta describing Trump as now officially a lame duck. Democrats control both chambers, Trump has said he would work with Democrats if they wanted to find common ground but would impose vetoes on initiatives he opposed, and Paletta wrote that the president likely has less control over his own party than he did before Tuesday. The three paths Paletta laid out — cutting deals, using Democrats as a foil or continuing as he has — are the ones Trump now has to choose among.