Midterms, the morning after: rocky road ahead for Republicans; Dems plot course
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump must have been spoiling for a fight Wednesday when he woke up to a harsh new political reality: a divided Congress, newly empowered Democrats and maybe even a powerful new presidential challenger.
While a surge of opposition didn’t swamp the Senate, where the Republicans actually made gains, Democrats turned the tide in the House of Representatives, forming a majority that gives them more power to subpoena cabinet members, investigate the president’s ties to Russia and compel the release of the his tax returns.
But to hear Trump tell it, the midterms represented an “almost total victory” for his party.
By turns conciliatory and combative, Trump put on a vintage performance Wednesday in the East Room of the White House — listing Republicans who lost after rejecting his campaign help, sparring angrily with reporters and offering to work with Democrats only if they stand down on their investigative threats.