Republicans Urge Trump to Change Course After Losing Congress – President Donald Trump faced calls from Republican allies and strategists to overhaul his White House team and reconsider unpopular policies after Democrats captured both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The pressure extended beyond arguments about campaign messaging, with critics identifying the Iran war, tariffs, and the administration’s priorities as liabilities, while senior aides prepared for possible personnel changes and congressional investigations.
USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19). Image Credit: U.S. Navy.
A U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 14 participates in an air power demonstration near the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) April 24, 2013, in the Pacific Ocean. The John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group was returning from an eight-month deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet and U.S. 7th Fleet areas of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Ignacio D. Perez/Released)
Trump offered little indication of a policy reversal, despite Vice President J.D. Vance’s social media critique of the conflict. Trump’s first public appearance since Tuesday’s elections saw him defend the war and devote much of his speech to the White House ballroom construction project, even as Republicans debated how to recover from their defeat.
A White House Reset
Republican strategist John Feehery described the election result to Reuters as a major disaster and urged Trump to replace members of his team.
“He needs to clean house,” Feehery said. “Every day from this point forward, he’s becoming more and more lame.”
A senior White House official, speaking anonymously, told Reuters that aides were anticipating departures and possible Cabinet changes. “It absolutely sucks to be here right now. Morale is as low as it can get,” the official said, arguing that Trump “just didn’t care” and “refused to listen to anyone.”
They added that internal polling had warned six weeks before the election that Republicans risked losing both chambers, but Trump resisted changing course on Iran.
A Republican advisor was also critical of the president, telling the publication: “If Trump spends the next two years talking about this same sh**, we will get shellacked again in the next election.”
Vance Blames Iran War
Vice President Vance, in an unusually candid reaction to a disappointing midterm election, publicly identified the war with Iran as the cause of Republican losses.
“The reason we lost is the war,” he wrote on social media Wednesday, arguing that any honest discussion about the party’s future needed to begin there. He also noted a senior pollster had warned the Iran war was one of the top issues frustrating voters before Tuesday’s elections.
Trump, who previously acknowledged that the conflict with Iran had played a role in the election results, said Vance’s assessment was “largely true” when pressed by reporters during a tour of the White House ballroom construction. “If I had to do it again, I’d have to do it again because long term, it’s the only answer,” he said. “You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
He added that he knew of Vance’s position on the war, telling reporters: “I know how he feels about it. I think it was — I think it was fine. Yeah, I thought it was good,” the president said of Vance’s social media post.
A Message from Voters
Economic frustration ran through Tuesday’s results.
Roughly half of voters considered living costs and government corruption crucial to their congressional vote, according to the AP Voter Poll released before polling stations closed. Democrats gained at least a small advantage in perceptions of which party could handle the economy.
Warning signs had appeared before voting began. A September AP-NORC survey found that 65% of adults blamed Trump’s policies for higher-than-usual prices, while 69% believed the Iran war had not been worth fighting.
Although nearly three in five U.S. adults in an ABC News/Washington Post poll released last month said Trump was spending “too much” time on his renovation projects at the White House and around Washington, the president seemed undeterred the day after Tuesday’s election.
“For me, it’s relaxing. For somebody else, it’s the opposite,” Trump said of his renovation projects on Wednesday.
The Swan Song Years
Trump’s final two years in office will take place in a markedly different political environment. Once the new Congress takes office in January, Democrats will control the committees able to investigate his administration and challenge its legislative agenda. Senate control will also allow them to block presidential nominees.
The president’s veto lets him block Democratic legislation he opposes. A congressional majority in both the Senate and the House does not automatically overcome that power. Overriding a presidential veto requires a two-thirds vote in each chamber, with a quorum present.
However, with Vance publicly questioning the war and Democrats vowing to “deliver for the American people” upon taking office in January, Trump’s swan-song years at the White House could be as much about the post-Trump era as about the president himself.
About the Author: Shay Bottomley
Shay Bottomley is a British journalist. He has written for the Western Standard, Business Insider, Maidenhead Advertiser, Slough Express, Windsor Express, Berkshire Live and Southend Echo.
