WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump reacted Wednesday to Republicans' midterm election losses by showing off the White House ballroom he's building as he demonstrated the kind of detached behavior that voters around the country said was a key reason they opted to punish his party.

In an extraordinary scene, Trump summoned reporters to the hulking construction site that he demolished the East Wing to make room for and the Republican president spoke for nearly 20 minutes about minute building details. He did not mention his party losing control of Congress after defeats in some of the country's deepest GOP strongholds, including Texas and South Carolina, or voter concerns about the high cost of living and federal corruption that helped cause the election losses.

"This has been a structure the likes of which has never been seen anywhere," Trump said, speaking into a microphone that sent loud feedback echoing around the cavernous space.

He talked at length about how the ballroom would be the "safest place in Washington" upon completion, stretching five stories underground and featuring a cut of marble that he called "a vein that people have been after for 50 years."

"We have large staircases coming from the kitchen. If I put the kitchen on top, you would lose three walls, because a kitchen takes about 30% of the space," Trump said of his choice to make the ballroom's kitchen subterranean.

"It's going to be top of the line," he added.

This is not what presidents normally talk about the day after an election

Presidents usually speak with reporters the day after the midterms. It's normal for those whose party endured big losses to shoulder publicly at least part of the responsibility.

But not Trump.

He began the day with a schedule that showed only private meetings, then suggested he had decided at the last minute to invite the press to watch as the final steel beam — topped with a small evergreen tree symbolizing growth and luck — was hoisted into place on the ballroom roof.

Trump signed the beam with a marker during the ceremony, writing "Love!" followed by his name in supersize letters.

His appearance came after midterm voters said they thought the president was focused on the wrong issues. About two-thirds of voters said Trump does not have the right priorities, according to The AP Voter Poll, and the overwhelming majority of these voters supported Democratic House candidates.

The post-midterm ceremony might also reinforce voter concerns about whether Trump, 80, is up for the rigors of the presidency.

Biden dropped out of his reelection race in 2024 after a disastrous debate with Trump, who even today frequently mocks Biden's mental and physical acuity.

Trump seeks to shift blame for the midterms

Trump eventually took questions at the ballroom site and attempted to duck responsibility for the broad Republican losses. He insisted he didn't lead the party into an Election Day drubbing despite staging a flurry of rallies where he implored supporters to pretend that he was on the ballot.

"If I were on the ballot I would have won," Trump insisted.

He said campaign rallies in mostly Republican states or conservative parts of more closely divided ones featured enthusiastic crowds "but we weren't able to transfer love to the candidates."

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The beam-raising was not his first baffling political moment this week. On Monday, Trump gave his closing message of the midterm cycle in a long speech at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, shining a spotlight at a pivotal time on a project marred by algae, leaks and delays.

"I heard it was a very good speech, got great reviews," he said on Wednesday.

Ducking responsibility is common with Trump

An Associated Press analysis of the 39 Trump speeches and rallies that Trump staged between Sept. 1 and Election Day showed the president used phrasing suggesting he was on the ballot in 30 of them. In some addresses he returned to the subject more than once, though, meaning there were at least 40 instances where he appealed to voters to engage in that bit of make-believe.

But as the extent of his party's defeat became apparent on election night, Trump was deflecting blame.

"I don't like to consider it a defeat for me. I wasn't on the ballot," he told Fox News Channel. Voters, he said, just "didn't like the candidates" on the ballot. The Voter Poll suggests Trump himself was a drag on GOP politicians and that in some races, candidates were seen as too supportive of the unpopular president.

Trump has a long history of passing the buck, on issues large and small, especially when there are ballot-box failures.

After Republicans lost the House in the 2018 midterms during Trump's first term, he blamed defeated members of his own party.

Utah Rep. Mia Love, who had tried to distance herself from him, "gave me no love, but then she lost. Too bad," the president said, while also mocking other losing lawmakers for not embracing him — Florida's Carlos Curbelo, Colorado's Mike Coffman, Virginia's Barbara Comstock, and Illinois' Peter Roskam.

That's in contrast to how Democrat Barack Obama described his party's losses in 2010 as "a shellacking" or Republican George W. Bush described Democratic victories in the 2006 midterms as "a thumping."

But Trump, known for defying all kinds of presidential norms, began laying the groundwork for avoiding blame this cycle well before balloting began.

He told Punchbowl News in August that voters were angry at Republicans "but they're not angry at me."

The president posted on his social media site last month that should Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton lose — and he did — "it will be because of WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Political Hacks like John Cornyn and Karl Rove." That's despite Trump's risky endorsement of scandal-marred Paxton in the primary over incumbent Cornyn, who first got to the Senate in 2002 and was considered the safer bet. Rove is a political strategist who helped Bush win the White House.

Also losing Tuesday was Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a longtime Trump ally.

Trump posted on social media that if Abbott "hadn't become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn't have lost," suggesting the governor had backed away from his staunchly conservative credentials and become "Republican in Name Only."

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Associated Press writers Amelia Thomson DeVeaux, Linley Sanders, Josh Boak and Aaron Kessler contributed to this report.

Tucker Carlson declared "the end" of the "Fox News era" in a blistering attack on his former network, accusing its biggest stars of having "helped persuade" President Donald Trump to launch the war in Iran that has been blamed for Republicans' devastating midterm election defeat.

Speaking on his YouTube show after Democrats seized control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday's midterms, the former Fox News host, now Trump critic, singled out host Mark Levin and the hosts of Fox & Friends, claiming they played a pivotal role in pushing Trump toward military action.

"This is the end of the Trump era last night. We're done. It's also the end, by the way, of the Fox News era," Carlson declared.

He claimed the president relied heavily on the network for information, citing a former White House staffer who described Fox News as Trump's "real presidential daily brief."

"There's some truth in that," he continued. "And it's hard to imagine that we would have gone to war in Iran if Fox News hadn't broadcast specifically to the president, who they knew was watching specific shows, The Mark Levin Show, the morning show [Fox & Friends]. He watches those."

"They know that the anchors talked to him and they spoke directly to him and they helped persuade him maybe more than anybody else in this country," he added.

Carlson also pointed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's influence, but argued "within the country" that "the main lobby for this war was Fox News."

"It's been systematic. And it's not an attack made out of bitterness. It's just an observable reality. And you can check it if you want because clips reside forever. They're there. And Fox News anchors spoke as one, really with only one exception in the entire lineup," he said.

His comments followed a brutal election night for Republicans, with Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday blaming the war for the party's losses and urging Republicans to confront the conflict and its economic consequences.

Even Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones acknowledged in his own morning-after take that voters were angry over the war and rising costs: "I support what the president did with the war, but people are furious about that." Co-host Brian Kilmeade agreed.

Trump himself also conceded that the conflict and rising gasoline prices had hurt Republicans, although he defended his decision to attack Iran.

Carlson, meanwhile, delivered a final verdict on his former employer: "A total destruction of the Republican Party. So that's over. I mean, it'll continue, they've got cable subscriptions and everything, but like this is – we're done here with Fox News."

Mediaite has reached out to Fox News for comment.

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Vladimir Putin's Kremlin propagandists have been left stunned by President Donald Trump's "unimaginable" midterm defeat, desperately claiming it could trigger nuclear war.

The blue tsunami that swept across the U.S., with Democrats seizing control of both Congress and the Senate, sent shockwaves through Russia, where the 80-year-old president is affectionately called "our Trump" and "Trumpushka."

State media experts were convinced that while the Republicans might lose their majority in the House, they would remain in charge of the Senate. They mocked polls showing Republicans languishing behind the Democrats and wished Trump success in the midterms, anticipating that he would finally be able to force Ukraine's capitulation to Russia and even withdraw the U.S. from NATO. The magnitude of the voters' rebuke against the GOP caught the Kremlin's talking heads by surprise.

During Wednesday's broadcast of the radio show Full Contact, decorated state TV host Vladimir Solovyov appeared gobsmacked by the outcome. He said, "Trump's night was a lot worse than mine. Trump admitted his defeat, which can't be called anything but resounding and egregious... this is an overwhelming defeat." He later added, "For Trump, this was a dreadful night."

Solovyov bitterly noted, "Trump lost it all. He lost everything."

He was particularly amazed at the results in Texas, where Democrat James Talarico trounced Trump's pick Ken Paxton, describing it as an outcome that seemed completely impossible. The host added, "This is incredibly painful for Trump to an unimaginable degree... The blue wave swept over him." Solovyov remarked, "Trump should pray that he does not get impeached."

A dejected Solovyov revealed his fears that Trump might back out of his poorly received diesel deal with Russia. "My anticipation that the Gramps would get it together led nowhere. The Gramps couldn't pull through," Solovyov admitted.

And with Trump shackled by Congress for the remainder of his term, Solovyov suggested Trump's appeasement of Putin over the war in Ukraine could end—leading to a shocking escalation. "This war is for a long time... There are only two possible conclusions: either we win, or the whole world will be reduced to ashes."

Solovyov ludicrously attempted to pin the blame on Putin's archnemesis, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of artificially causing the price of fuel in the U.S. to skyrocket by striking Russian oil refineries. Solovyov said, "Can you imagine how Zelensky is rejoicing? He exacted his revenge against Trump—and he won. Zelensky defeated Trump, he paid him back. This green moth is celebrating... he got his revenge for the humiliation at the Oval Office."

Solovyov bemoaned the Democratic victory and surmised, "They've devoured Trump. He made a colossal mistake with Iran, without considering how it will drive up the price at the gas pump. If he was able to achieve success in the operations in Iran and Venezuela, and the friendship with us, causing rock-bottom prices at the fueling stations, he would have won... It's the economy, stupid."

Solovyov grimly pointed out, "Trump tried and failed to pull the rabbit out of a hat for one simple reason—there was no rabbit. With Venezuela, where is its oil? With Iran, what are the prices at the pump?"

The host asserted that the outcome would have been different if Trump had been able to achieve unquestionable global victories, which would have included "punishing Ukraine and Europe" for the sake of a rapprochement with Russia. Solovyov surmised, "Trump overestimated himself. He is not a team player." He said that by insisting that voters pretend he was on the ballot, Trump may have sunk even GOP candidates who had a chance of winning.

Solovyov also pondered how this unraveling might affect Elon Musk, having earlier predicted that the trillionaire would end up moving to Russia.

"This was a campaign where the craziest campaign spending led to the most pitiful results," he concluded.

By John Kruzel

WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The US midterm election landslide that gives Democrats control of Congress starting in January is fueling questions about the longevity of the Supreme Court's two eldest justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, and the durability of its conservative majority.

As Republicans prepare to cede control of the Senate to Democrats for the next two years or ‌more, some conservative commentators already are expressing concerns about the health prospects of Thomas, 78, and Alito, 76, placing renewed focus on their continued service on the top US judicial body.

The US Constitution ‌assigns the Senate the power to confirm a president's judicial nominations. With a Senate majority, Democrats can block any nominations that Republican President Donald Trump would make to fill potential Supreme Court vacancies, just as Republicans blocked Democratic President Barack Obama from filling one in ​2016.

Thomas has given no public indication of wanting to step down. Alito said last month he would remain for the duration of the current nine-month term, which began in October, even if Democrats were to retake the Senate. Thomas and Alito did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters about whether they are considering retiring.

Thomas and Alito are the court's two most conservative justices and have reliably backed Trump policies in major rulings during his second term in office. The court's 6-3 conservative majority, which has steered American law in a sharply rightward direction on issues from abortion to gun rights to presidential powers, includes three justices Trump appointed during his first term as president.

Alito's comment about remaining ‌through the current term followed speculation that he might quickly retire in the ⁠event Democrats captured the Senate in order to ensure that Trump could get a successor confirmed with Republicans still in control.

Until Democrats formally take over Congress on January 3, the current Republican majority retains control during what is called a lame-duck session.

While some conservatives might want Thomas or Alito to retire right away so Trump can nominate a ⁠replacement and a Republican-led Senate could quickly provide confirmation, the tight timeline and other legislative priorities could make that difficult even if the justices had any interest in doing so.

'NAKEDLY POLITICAL'

To some legal analysts, the notion of an imminent Supreme Court departure seemed far-fetched.

Although justices mulling retirement often consider the politics of the president and party control of the Senate in making a decision, "they do not like to broadcast that they do so," Cornell Law School professor Michael Dorf said.

"Absent an acute ​health ​crisis," Dorf said, "a decision to retire in the next several months would appear, and would in fact be, so nakedly political ​that I doubt Justice Alito or Thomas would take it."

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a ‌prominent Republican who mounted an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2024, wrote on social media: "Chance of confirming a worthy successor to Justice Thomas and/or Alito during President Trump's term: Zero."

The size of the new Democratic majority in the Senate could make it difficult for Republicans to reclaim the chamber in the 2028 elections, according to some analysts, meaning Republicans may not control both the presidency and Senate for quite some time.

"If a Republican is elected president in 2028, that president will not be able to appoint any justices or judges until Republicans regain the Senate," said legal analyst Ed Whelan of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, who served as a Justice Department official under Republican President George W. Bush.

"Given the deep hole, that might not happen until 2033," Whelan said.

Thomas would be 84 and Alito 82 in 2033 when a new Congress is sworn in. That would place them over ‌the average retirement age of around 80 for Supreme Court justices since 2000.

'ON THEIR TREADMILLS'

Thomas and Alito have no serious health ​concerns that are publicly known, though each was briefly hospitalized in recent years. Alito was treated for dehydration in March after feeling ​ill during an event in Philadelphia. Thomas missed arguments in cases in 2022 when he was hospitalized ​with flu-like symptoms.

Three justices have died in office this century. Conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist died in 2005 at age 80. Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016 at ‌79. Liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in 2020 at 87.

A Republican-led Senate refused ​to consider Obama's nominee to replace Scalia, allowing Trump the ​following year to fill the vacancy.

The Senate confirmed Trump's nominee Amy Coney Barrett swiftly in the weeks after Ginsburg's death to build the court's current 6-3 conservative edge. Ginsburg's decision not to retire during Obama's presidency to clear the way for a like-minded successor was seen by many liberals as a serious miscalculation that led to a dramatically more conservative court.

Some conservative legal commentators addressed the possible ​political and actuarial implications if Democrats keep the Senate for years.

"The Senate is ‌lost until 2032, so I hope Thomas and Alito got on their treadmills this morning," Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, wrote in a ​social media post.

Josh Hammer, a Newsweek podcaster and former clerk to Judge James Ho of the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, wrote in a social media post: "I ​hope Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito have historically great health insurance plans."

(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)

Natalie Harp, Donald Trump's always-at-his-side executive assistant, appears to have now taken control of the president's personal mobile phone and is deciding who can and cannot speak to him.

For months, the White House has boasted of Trump's accessibility to reporters and pointed to the fact that numerous members of the White House press corps are able to dial the president's phone and connect with him for brief phone interviews at all times of the day and night.

But as Trump's approval ratings have reached a nadir and as his party was taking a humiliating drubbing in the midterm elections, it appears that his so-called "human printer" Harp, is screening his calls to prevent him from having any uncomfortable conversations with journalists — apparently at her discretion.

Multiple journalists confirmed to The Independent that attempts to reach the president over the last 48 hours have found them speaking to a young female who answers the number known to belong to Trump's personal phone and demands to know who is calling. The Independent had a similar interaction Tuesday night as midterm returns were rolling in.

The call screener was recorded asking who was calling when Politico's Dasha Burns tried calling Trump during an election-night live stream on Tuesday, and the voice on the other end appeared identical to Harp's voice based on a recording of her speech to the 2020 Republican National Convention.

Another journalist and longtime White House reporter told The Independent that his recent call to Trump was answered by a young woman, who only put him through to the president after Trump overheard him identifying himself to her and told her that he'd take the call.

The newly-instituted gatekeeping is a departure from Trump's longtime practice of answering his own phone, something he and his aides have for years boasted about when referring to his accessibility and comparing him favorably to his predecessors in the White House.

But Harp's apparent involvement comes at a time when the young White House aide appears to be exerting more and more control over the president's consumption of news and information.

According to multiple reports, it is Harp who has repeatedly connected him with self-described "Islamophobe" and activist Laura Loomer over the objections of other senior members of his staff, and Harp was reportedly responsible for Trump's decision to bar CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House in September.

The 30-something aide has long been known as Trump's "human printer" for her practice of following him around and providing hard copies of fawning news coverage to boost his mood.

She has grown increasingly close to Trump, and in recent weeks is understood to have abandoned the desk where she usually sits outside of the Oval Office for a place in his private dining room, printing off hard copies of news articles and documents for the president to read.

Harp, who reportedly posts on Truth Social on the president's behalf, has been pictured at Trump's side on the campaign trail and is one of the small group the president has been "increasingly cloistered" with, according to The New York Times, which also reported that it was Harp to whom Trump reportedly dictated his furious 1,300-word rant about Bill Maher aboard Air Force One last week.

Pressure is building on President Donald Trump from within his own Republican Party after midterm voters handed Congress to the Democrats. In other words, strategists and allies are now pushing for staffing overhauls and a change in direction.

GOP strategists call for White House changes after the 2026 midterms

Wednesday brought a wave of calls from Republican allies and strategists for Trump to restructure his White House team, reimpose discipline, and abandon the policies they hold responsible for the party's midterm defeats — naming the Iran war and tariffs among them — as his presidency moves into its final years.

Veteran Republican strategist John Feehery described the outcome as a "huge disaster" for Trump. "He needs to clean house," Feehery stated. "Every day from this point forward, he's becoming more and more lame." Trump, however, signaled no appetite for a course correction. "I don't view it as a hit on me," he told Fox News on Tuesday.

With Democrats now able to stall his legislative agenda, scrutinize his administration and contest his nominees, Trump — who has already leaned heavily on executive authority — is expected to rely even more on unilateral action.

Moreover, Vice President JD Vance, widely seen as Trump's likely political successor, appeared to create some distance from the president on Wednesday by attributing the midterm losses to the Iran war. Strategists and party officials claimed similar breaks could multiply if Republicans conclude that Trump's long-standing hold on the party's voters is eroding.

Furthermore, according to a senior official, senior aides inside the White House were preparing for staff departures, possible Cabinet changes and Democratic investigations. "Morale is as low as it can get," the official told Reuters.

Donald Trump acknowledged late on Tuesday that the eight-month-old Iran war had hurt Republican candidates. However, defended his decision to launch the conflict.

Amid this, a Republican political adviser said concerns went beyond the war as Republican and independent voters voiced opposition to the president's focus on the White House ballroom and Washington renovations.

The post Donald Trump Faces Calls From Republicans to 'Clean House' After Losses appeared first on Reality Tea.