Trump Claims GOP Would Have Won as Democrats Take Congress

President Donald Trump said Republicans would have won the 2026 midterm elections by a landslide if he had been on the ballot, as Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress, according to reported election calls. In a post on Truth Social after results began emerging Tuesday evening, Trump wrote that he was not on the ballot and that Republicans would have won “IN A LANDSLIDE” if he had been. His statement was a counterfactual claim; the reported results do not establish how his presence would have affected the races. The Associated Press called Democrats the winners of the House and Senate. One report noted that counting was still underway and millions of ballots remained when it appeared, underscoring that the reported calls preceded completion of the count. The supplied accounts do not give a final certified tally. Trump had urged Republican supporters during the campaign to treat the midterms as a test of his presidency. In a separate account of the White House response, an official described the mood as defiant and said Trump’s absence from the ballot and candidates’ performance were factors. The official also argued that Trump had promoted some candidates more...