Democrats vow to rein in Trump as he shows off White House ballroom

Democrats vowed to use their resounding midterm victory to rein in President Donald Trump, setting up two years of ​possible deadlock in Washington, as Trump spent his first post-election appearance showing off his under-construction White House ‌ballroom.

A ​wave of anger over Trump's policies, particularly the US-Iran war's role in pushing the cost of living higher, helped Democrats take the Senate, where they flipped seats in deeply Republican states for a majority of at least 54-44. Democrats also gained at least 30 seats in the House of Representatives. It will be the first time that Trump, a Republican who also held the White House from 2017 to 2021, has had to contend with Democrats controlling both ‌chambers of Congress.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Wednesday that the incoming majority would be focused on affordability and accountability. "We don't work for Donald Trump," Jeffries, a New York lawmaker who is on track to become the first Black speaker of the House, told reporters on Wednesday. "We work for the American people. And the days of the House of Representatives functioning like a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trump administration are over."

'FOR ME, IT'S RELAXING' Trump, who had devoted his last pre-election public appearance on Monday to talking about his renovations of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, called in reporters on the morning after his party's sweeping midterm defeat to ‌show off the ballroom he is building at the White House.

"When I get criticized, like, 'Why are you working on the White House?' I'm doing it because the White House is the ultimate symbol of America, and it's got to be pristine, it's got to be perfect," Trump said. "For me, it's ‌relaxing." He turned only briefly to the elections during his nearly hour-long appearance, telling reporters, "I'll get along probably with the Democrats, unless they want to be destructive, but I have the power of the veto."

Trump had cast the midterm elections as a referendum on the first half of his second four-year stint in the White House, repeatedly urging his Republican base to "pretend I'm on the ballot," a message that Democratic Party leaders were happy to amplify. The result: voters in conservative strongholds who propelled the president to his second term in office just two years ago swung dramatically toward Democrats, fueled by deep frustration over the unpopular war with Iran, anxiety over the high cost of living and anger at Trump's stewardship of the country.

In Texas, the biggest Republican-led state before Tuesday, Democrats ⁠ended a decades-long ​losing streak in seismic fashion, winning their first Senate seat there since 1988 and ⁠ousting three-term Governor Greg Abbott. Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since the Great Depression nearly a century ago, and in South Carolina, a state that Trump carried by nearly 18 points in 2024, Democrats turned aside his hand-picked Senate candidate.

WAITING ON ALASKA, MISSISSIPPI Extremely close Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi remained uncalled as of Wednesday, leaving open the possibility that the Democrats' majority could increase ⁠by two more seats to 56-44.

The Alaska race may not be called for more than a week because of ranked-choice tabulation, while the timeline for a decision in Mississippi remained unclear. Once seated in January, Democrats are expected to use their power to investigate Trump's administration, family and allies and demand concessions on major legislation. The Democratic Senate can block Trump's ​nominees, including any US Supreme Court justices should a vacancy arise.

The Democratic victory is fueling questions about the longevity of the Supreme Court's two eldest justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, and the durability of its conservative majority. In the meantime, Republicans hold the reins and will have ⁠at least one must-pass piece of legislation ahead – a measure to fund the federal government past December – that they could use to enact conservative priorities during the so-called lame-duck period.

The loss also upended Republicans' House leadership, with House Speaker Mike Johnson saying he would not continue to lead his caucus next year. Trump, who is barred by the US Constitution from seeking a third term, acknowledged the war with Iran ⁠had ​played a role in his party's losses but stood by his decision.

Vice President JD Vance, who may run as a successor to Trump in the 2028 election, piled blame on his boss's decision to attack Iran in February. "The reason we lost is the war," Vance wrote in a long social media post. "The president himself said so last night. If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay."

'EXTINCTION-LEVEL EVENT' Democrats focused their campaign on corruption and affordability, blaming Trump's expensive tariffs on imports, some ⁠of which were ruled to be an illegal tax by the courts, and the war with Iran for driving up costs while highlighting the billions of dollars the Trump family has made since he returned to the White House.

Republicans, led by Trump, accused Democrats of being out of step ⁠with voters on transgender people's rights and other social issues, portraying them as radical and ⁠extreme. Voters made it clear they were more concerned with pocketbook issues. "This is close to an extinction-level event for Republicans," Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in public remarks analyzing the results.

The Democratic wave flooded huge swaths of the country. Republicans lost ground in 99% of the approximately 2,100 counties where most votes had been counted as of Wednesday morning, according to tallies compiled by Reuters and USA Today.