In brief: The White House responded to Republican’s sweeping midterm defeat with an X post on Wednesday, Nov. 4, reminding American citizens that US President Donald Trump remains their president. Meanwhile, Trump admitted to several media that the US-Israeli war on Iran contributed to Republicans losing both chambers of Congress, as Democrats won at least 54 Senate seats and vowed investigations of his administration.
The White House responded to the Republican Party’s sweeping midterm losses on Wednesday, Nov. 4, after a Democratic wave reached even into Texas and Kansas, handing the opposition control of both chambers of Congress.
In a post on X, the official White House account shared an image reading “PSA: Trump is still your president,” captioned “Thank you for your attention to this matter” – a sign-off Trump himself often uses.
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The message came as Democrats secured at least 54 of the Senate’s 100 seats by flipping seven held by Republicans, along with a House majority well above the 218 needed in the 435-member chamber, according to the Associated Press.
Among them were Kansas, where Democrats won a Senate race for the first time since 1932, and Texas, which elected its first Democratic senator since 1988, Axios reported.
Trump admits Iran war played a role
According to Reuters, Trump acknowledged that the US-Israeli war on Iran played a role in his Republican Party’s defeat.
“I think a part of it was Iran,” he told Fox News in an interview, while separately admitting to The Wall Street Journal that “Iran was a piece of it.”
Still, he offered no regret over the decision, noting that he “did the right thing,” even as the conflict dragged into its ninth month without broad public support.
Democrats across the country made the war a central theme of their campaigns, linking it to soaring gas prices – even as Trump repeatedly blamed Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries for driving up fuel costs.
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In October, Trump called Kyiv’s attacks a “disgrace” and accused President Volodymyr Zelensky of pushing world oil prices higher, although energy analysts previously pointed to the war in Iran and wider disruptions to global oil markets as the main drivers of the price surge.
“Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf wrote in a statement on X.
Democrats vow Trump investigations
House Democrats, led by Hakeem Jeffries of New York, plan to open their majority with a 100-day agenda focused on bringing down the cost of gas, groceries and other goods, as well as legislation to reverse cuts to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, the AP reported.
They are also preparing wide-ranging oversight of the Trump administration that Jeffries says will “hold the crooks accountable,” with impeachment of the president or members of his Cabinet not ruled out.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. pic.twitter.com/Q1ZGYM7idV
Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, issued a two-word warning: “Lawyer up.”
Senator Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, needed just one: “Subpoenas.”
A string of historic firsts
Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat, will take office in January as the first Muslim member of the US Senate, Axios reported.
The Senate will also gain its first Native American woman, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, a citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, and Representative Chris Pappas, who captured an open seat in New Hampshire and will be the first openly gay man to sit in the chamber.
Louisiana, meanwhile, had never before sent a Republican woman to the Senate – until Julia Letlow’s win on Tuesday.
In governors’ races, Georgia elected Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms as the first Black woman governor in US history, according to Stateline.
New Mexico chose Deb Haaland, who previously made history as Interior secretary under President Joe Biden, making her the first Native American woman to hold a governorship in US history.
In Texas, Democrat Gina Hinojosa’s victory over Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who conceded, will make her the state’s first Latina governor. Florida picked Republican Byron Donalds, who will be the state’s first Black governor.
Wisconsin will also have its first Black governor in Democrat David Crowley, who defeated Republican Representative Tom Tiffany.
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