President calls Pelosi, celebrates Senate win
Resigned to losing his party’s grip on the House, President Donald Trump congratulated the House Democratic leader last night and chose to celebrate ‘‘tremendous success’’ for Republicans in maintaining the Senate.
Trump called Representative Nancy Pelosi and noted her pitch for bipartisanship in her remarks, her office tweeted. The president, in an earlier tweet, weighed in on the midterm results, overlooking the Democratic pickups in the House and writing: ‘‘Tremendous success tonight. Thank you to all!’’
With results still coming in, Democrats were on track to gain control of the House, while Republicans kept their Senate majority. Widely viewed as a referendum on Trump’s presidency, the results offered a split decision that revealed deep divides in the American electorate.
Control of the House would give Democrats the ability to launch investigations into the president and stymie his agenda. But White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders minimised the magnitude of likely Democratic gains.
‘‘Maybe you get a ripple, but I certainly don’t think that there’s a blue wave,’’ she told reporters, pointing to several early Republican wins.
As for Republicans retaining control of the Senate, she called it ‘‘a huge moment and victory for the president’’.
White House aides called on Democrats to work with Republicans in the next Congress.
‘‘I don’t know that there will be much of an appetite for Democrat lawmakers to spend all of their time, or most of their time or even a fraction of their time investigating, instigating, trying to impeach and subpoena people,’’ White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway said yesterday.
In addition to the call to Pelosi, Trump also called Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, as well as a number of candidates he backed during the race, the White House said.
Sanders said he would continue making calls today.
Trump had aggressively campaigned in the closing days of the race, his focus on boosting Republicans in states that he carried in 2016. Of the three races he targeted in the final day, the Republicans won all of them: Mike Braun defeated Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Josh Hawley defeated Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill in Missouri and Attorney General Mike DeWine defeated Democrat Richard Cordray in the race for Ohio governor.
Trump spent election night watching returns with family and friends at the White House, his shadow looming large over the results.
Nearly 40 per cent of voters cast their ballots to express opposition to the president, according to AP VoteCast, a national survey of the electorate, while about 25 per cent said they voted to express support for Trump.