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Dasha Burns of Politico called Trump live on air YouTube
Changing tune
Trump says he's 'learned a lot' and is ready to work with Democrats after midterms disaster
Republicans are set to lose the House and Senate to the Democrats.
LAST UPDATE | 4 hrs ago
DONALD TRUMP HAS said he has learned a lot from the result of the US midterms, which saw his party make brutal losses across races for Congress in the House and the Senate.
The Republican president claims the reason for defeat was that he was not on the ballot.
However, he said on a phone call with Politico journalist Dasha Burns, which was broadcast live on air, that he is willing to work with the Democrats.
“I don’t want to be just sitting there for two years vetoing everything. I want to see things happen too, so I’ve already spoken to certain leaders of the Democrat party,” he said.
Asked whether he’d consider doing an immigration deal with them, Trump said: “I’d consider doing whatever I think is appropriate and good for the country.”
The president’s tune has changed significantly since earlier this morning when he appeared agitated, posting a string of angry messages on social media lashing out at conservative broadcaster Fox News’s coverage.
Ignoring his appearances at various rallies in which he implored his supporters to vote as if he was on the ballot, Trump posted online to remind people he was not.
“I wasn’t on the ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Dismissing speculation about whether he would repeat his refusal to accept his 2020 presidential election loss to Joe Biden, Trump later took a conciliatory tone with the New York Times.
“I am absolutely willing to accept those results,” he told The New York Times. “We’ll work with the Democrats, and we’ll, you know, look forward to working with them. We’ll probably work something out.”
Trump later posted a picture of his trademark red MAGA baseball hat with the single word: “VETO.”
Trump seemed much calmer on his call with Politico.
“I’m gonna work with the Democrats to make sure things go well for our country,” he said, adding that “they’ve already called”. He has “a lot of friends” in the Democratic Party, he said.
Asked how he thinks the result will affect the second half of his administration, Trump said: “I’ll let you know a year from now.”
With reporting by ©-AFP 2026
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