Following the Republican Party’s crushing defeat in the midterm elections this week, President Donald Trump is now a “lame duck president” with “little left to lose,” reported Newsweek senior editor Shane Croucher in an article suggesting that he could start working with the Democrats.
Asked what he would do this week should Republicans lose the midterms, Trump initially threatened to become “Mr. Veto” and block the Democrats from implementing any legislation.
Caleb Larson reports on an Iran war entering its sixth month: a Pentagon cost figure disputed as an undercount, Republicans tepid on more funding, and Trump warning of a ‘last chance’ and ‘decapitation.’ Reuters reports tankers running the Houthi blockade dark while others divert, and The Guardian says Riyadh may be preparing a land offensive.
President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks at the General Motors Proving Ground in Milford, Michigan, Monday, July 27, 2026. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
His stance softened following the Democratic Party’s blue tsunami victory, however.
“My message is, congratulations to the Democrats, and I look forward to working with you for the good of the country,” he told CBS News.
Reacting to the president’s remarks, Croucher wrote, “This is the lame duck president speaking. But perhaps he’s really a lame Democrat.”
Trump Could Start Working With Democrats to Pass Legislation
Suggesting that Trump could now start working with Democrats to pass legislation during his final years in the White House, Croucher pointed to the president’s long history with Democratic leaders and to his former membership in the party.
“There is precedent for Trump working with Democrats despite his party colors.
In September 2017, Trump overruled Republican leaders to take Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi’s three-month debt-ceiling deal,” acknowledged Croucher, noting that the president had even praised New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and claimed they had “a lot” in common.
Working with the Democrats, Trump “could sign things that outlast him and buy back some affection from the voting public,” Croucher suggested, concluding that the president had “little left to lose at this point.”
“So Trump can choose to be a lame duck fighting against the blue tide—or a lame Democrat that floats on it,” the Newsweek editor concluded.
GOP Loses Both House and Senate in Massive Blue Tsunami
Trump and the Republican Party lost control of the House and the Senate on Tuesday, with several Republican strongholds flipping blue in an overwhelming Democratic victory.
Republican candidates also lost in several major gubernatorial races, including Texas and Ohio, where Texas Governor Greg Abbott and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy were defeated, respectively.
The president responded to Tuesday’s defeat by blaming the Republican candidates — all of whom he endorsed — as well as other allies, including Fox News.
In a post-defeat interview with Fox, Trump repeatedly insisted the results would have been different if he were on the ballot, shooting down any suggestion that he was even partially to blame.
“I wasn’t on the ballot. If I were on the ballot, they would have got down,” he claimed.
Voters Overwhelmingly Opposed Trump’s Iran War and its Economic Consequences
Many Republicans took a different stance, acknowledging that the results of the midterms represented widespread opposition in the U.S. to Trump’s disastrous Iran war and its economic consequences, including a rise in fuel prices.
AP’s voter poll found that the state of the economy was by far the biggest issue that shaped the result of the midterms.
Foreign policy, which Trump has spent much of his second term focusing on, meanwhile, was ranked at the bottom, with just 4% identifying it as the most important issue.
Voters also expressed concern about Trump’s support for AI data centers, his immigration enforcement policies, and government corruption.
Despite Trump’s insistence that the midterms were not a referendum on his job in the White House, 60% of African American voters told AP that they voted “to express opposition to Donald Trump.” 40% of white voters told AP the same, as did 50% of Hispanic voters and 47% of Americans with a different racial background.
Democrats Shouldn’t Treat the Results of the Midterm as a Slam Dunk Victory For 2028
Democratic Congressman Jason Crow warned fellow Democrats not to take their sweeping victory for granted, cautioning that while the party had been “given an opportunity” with a win even the most optimistic of Democrats could not expect, the results of the elections indicated more of a dissatisfaction with Trump than an overwhelming support of the Democratic Party and its leaders.
“It’s really important that a takeaway is that we are being given an opportunity,” he advised. “That the message should not be, people are completely happy with the Democratic Party, that they think we’re crushing it, and we’re back.”
Crow concluded, “That’s not the message. The message is that people are suffering under Donald Trump, that he is a failed president and hasn’t delivered. They are open to giving Democrats a chance.”
About the Author: Charlie Nash
Charlie Nash is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in The Spectator, Mediaite, New Statesman, and the American Conservative, among other major publications. The Washington Post, Fox News, the Daily Beast, MS NOW, NewsNation, Hannity, and more have featured his reporting. You can follow Charlie on X at @CharlieNash and on LinkedIn.
