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Trump calls into Fox News with unexpected four-word message after attacking hosts on midterm night
Donald Trump has appeared to concede defeat after Republicans sustained a crushing night in the 2026 midterm elections, with Democrats securing major victories and regaining control of both chambers of Congress.
Calling into Fox News on Wednesday, the president offered an unusually generous assessment of his political opponents' results.
Trump concedes defeat live on news
“They finally got it,” he admitted.
“Congratulations [to the Democrats], they did a good job,” Trump said during the phone interview, sounding exhausted and occasionally appearing to slur his words.
“They’ve been looking for this one for 11 years, and they finally got it.”
The comments came just hours after Trump had launched a series of attacks against the conservative broadcaster on Truth Social, accusing it of giving too much attention to Democratic politicians.
The president also attempted to distance himself from the Republican defeats, repeatedly insisting that he had not been on the ballot, despite that claim appearing to contradict his own campaign rhetoric, having spent much of the previous month telling supporters to “pretend I am on the ballot”.
With Democrats making sweeping gains, it appeared voters had taken that instruction seriously, with the results being a major setback for Trump, with Democrats taking back the House and Senate following two turbulent years of his second presidency.
His administration has faced mounting criticism over an unpopular war in Iran that sent petrol prices soaring, unpredictable trade tariffs, and a persistent cost-of-living crisis. Its aggressive immigration enforcement policies have also come under scrutiny following the deaths of US citizens.
Despite the scale of the losses, Trump refused to accept that the results amounted to a rejection of his presidency.
“I don’t view it as a hit on me,” he told Fox News.
“I think we’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency in terms of the economy, in terms of all the things we’ve done…” he added.
Trump had started distancing himself from the election results earlier on Tuesday evening, as Republican defeats began to emerge.
At approximately 10.30pm, he posted on Truth Social: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”
Trump confronted over comments distancing himself from defeat
Fox News presenter Bret Baier subsequently challenged the president over his previous statements, pointing out that he had repeatedly encouraged Americans to view the midterms as a personal vote on his leadership.
“In various rallies you said, ‘Pretend I’m on the ballot,’” Baier said. “But looking at this map, it doesn’t seem like that message got out to the Republican base.”
Trump retorted and dismissed the claim: “They didn't like the candidates and some of the candidates I endorsed fought me.
“In other cases, they just didn’t inspire the people to get out and vote. I wasn't on the ballot,” Trump claimed.
Trump's decision to call into Fox News was particularly striking given that he had spent the evening criticising the network on Truth Social, and had claimed the broadcaster's viewing figures had fallen because of its coverage of Democratic politicians.
“Fox News Ratings are way down (27 percent!) because they’re spending too much time covering the Trump Deranged Dumocrats! All of those people who used to watch Fox, and no longer do, get it. It’s them, not me,” he wrote.
He followed up with another attack after the network invited former New York City mayor Bill de Blasio to appear as a guest.
“Fox News bears responsibility for these losses by constantly and consistently putting on the Dumocrat opposition, and worse,” Trump complained.
Despite his frustration with the broadcaster, the president still joined its election night coverage on two occasions.
During his interview, Trump also suggested he could be prepared to work with Democrats over the next two years, although he made clear that certain issues would remain non-negotiable.
Immigration and transgender-related policies were among the subjects where he ruled out making concessions.
“The power of veto is one of the stronger powers that a president has, and they’ll send over things that are insane, and I’ll veto them,” he warned.