Trump Admits Democrats’ Election Sweep Hurt Republicans

President Donald Trump acknowledged that the Democratic victory in the nationwide elections on Tuesday night was bad news for his Republican Party.

"Last night, you know, we didn't expect to win, they were very Democratic areas, but I don't think it was good for the Republicans," Trump said during a breakfast meeting with GOP senators at the White House on Wednesday morning.

"I'm not sure it was good for anybody," Trump said. "But we had an interesting evening, and we learned a lot, and we'll talk about it."

Trump continued: "If you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor, negative for Republicans, and it was a big factor."

He said, "And they say I wasn't on the ballot, that was the biggest factor."

Trump's reference to the government shutdown, now the longest in American history, suggests that he believes the Senate deadlock is a political liability for the GOP.

Recent polling shows that a majority of Americans blame Trump and Republicans for the shutdown, which has led to massive layoffs of government employees and jeopardized funding for many federal services.

The president's remarks came hours after Democratic candidates Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill secured landslide victories in their respective gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, both projected to win by double-digit margins.

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, also defeated his primary rival, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who had received Trump's endorsement.

Jay Jones, a Democrat running for Attorney General of Virginia, also defeated his incumbent, overcoming a major scandal involving texts he sent about violence against a Republican political foe in 2022.

Trump's initial reaction to the election results, which came as the results came in on Tuesday night, was to claim that his party performed poorly because he was not on the ballot and because of the shutdown. Trump wrote in a Truthout social post, "According to pollsters, 'Trump not being on the ballot, and the shutdown, are the two reasons Republicans lost the election tonight.'" He did not provide a link to those polls.

In a subsequent post, Trump reiterated his recent demand that top Republicans take steps to eliminate the Senate filibuster, which requires 60 votes instead of a simple majority to pass most legislation.

Republican leaders have long opposed this move, known as the "nuclear option," fearing that a future Democratic congressional majority would use this power aggressively.

But Trump wants them to eliminate the filibuster to quickly end the shutdown and implement the president's policy agenda, including passing major changes to federal voting laws.

He emphasized this point at a breakfast meeting Wednesday morning.

He said, "If you don't eliminate the filibuster, you're in trouble. We won't be able to pass any legislation."

Trump is scheduled to fly to Miami, Florida, later Wednesday, where he will deliver a speech about the economy.