Nov 4, 2026 · 6 min · 7 segments
President Trump's touted his record at rallies across the country before the midterms. But voters didn't agree with his assessment on the state of the economy. NPR's Franco Ordoñez reports. Support…
Michel Martin
Scott DetrowHost
He lashed out as results came in early in the evening, showing Democrats ahead in many key races.
He blamed Republican candidates for Congress and pledged to beat Mr. Vito.
Now, Trump made himself the central figure in this midterm election, hoping to boost turnout of supporters.
But he could not overcome nationwide concerns, especially about the economy and the high cost of living, although he did tell the New York Times he would pledge to accept the results of the midterms.
NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez is here with us to talk about it all.
So President Trump repeatedly told supporters to pretend that he was on the ballot.
I mean, his political operation figured that if they could just get his own supporters, who do not tend to vote in midterm elections when he's not on the ballot, to show up, Republicans could either win or at least offset the losses.
The problem, as described to me by Republican strategists, is that Trump just made it too much about him, too much about his personality, too much about his pet projects.
And he did not make enough of a case about why Republicans should stay in power and especially what they were doing to address the issues that were important to people's pocketbooks.
I mean, just look at Texas and South Carolina, two states that haven't elected a Democratic senator in decades.
Trump handpicked both of those Republican candidates, actually pushed out more established politicians.
And despite pulling out all the stops, two Republican strongholds now have Democratic
But first, how do you expect the president to respond to this new reality of Democratic power? Asking you as somebody who's been watching this president for a very long time.
He lashed out as results came in early in the evening, showing Democrats ahead in many key races.
He blamed Republican candidates for Congress and pledged to beat Mr. Vito.
Now, Trump made himself the central figure in this midterm election, hoping to boost turnout of supporters.
But he could not overcome nationwide concerns, especially about the economy and the high cost of living, although he did tell the New York Times he would pledge to accept the results of the midterms.
NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez is here with us to talk about it all.
So President Trump repeatedly told supporters to pretend that he was on the ballot.
I mean, his political operation figured that if they could just get his own supporters, who do not tend to vote in midterm elections when he's not on the ballot, to show up, Republicans could either win or at least offset the losses.
The problem, as described to me by Republican strategists, is that Trump just made it too much about him, too much about his personality, too much about his pet projects.
And he did not make enough of a case about why Republicans should stay in power and especially what they were doing to address the issues that were important to people's pocketbooks.
I mean, just look at Texas and South Carolina, two states that haven't elected a Democratic senator in decades.
Trump handpicked both of those Republican candidates, actually pushed out more established politicians.
And despite pulling out all the stops, two Republican strongholds now have Democratic
But first, how do you expect the president to respond to this new reality of Democratic power? Asking you as somebody who's been watching this president for a very long time.
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