by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – U.S. President Donald J. Trump conceded a massive defeat for his Republican Party and offered rare praise for rival Democrats Tuesday after they took control of Congress in a stunning midterm election victory.

He admitted the Iran war may have contributed to his Republican Party’s defeat, with Democrats winning control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Preliminary results show Democrats securing majorities in the 435-member House and the 100-member Senate, ending two years of unified Republican control of Washington. Some races remained undecided as vote counting continued Wednesday.

And in a historic development, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, becoming the first Muslim elected to the chamber. His victory marked a breakthrough for the Democratic Party’s progressive wing and denied Republicans a chance to capture the seat of retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters.

El-Sayed celebrated his victory before cheering supporters in Detroit, emphasizing his Muslim faith and opposition to American spending on overseas conflicts.

MUSLIM SENATOR MAKES HISTORY

“Michigan, we did it,” he declared, introducing himself as Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed and expressing pride in becoming the state’s senator-elect.

He also used the Arabic expressions “Inshallah,” meaning “if Allah wills,” and “Alhamdulillah,” meaning “Praise be to Allah,” as he celebrated the result.

“We want our taxes spent here, for schools here, and healthcare here, and infrastructure here. We don’t want our money sent to do apartheid, or genocide, or war,” he told supporters, criticizing U.S. involvement in overseas conflicts.

However, Trump, 80, refused to take personal responsibility for the result, which could dramatically undermine the final two years of his presidency.

TRUMP PRAISES DEMOCRATS

Instead, he sought to shift the blame to fellow Republicans while congratulating his political opponents.

“Well, I say this: congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job,” Trump said in a telephone interview with broadcaster Fox News.

“They’ve been looking for this one for 11 years, and they finally got it. But I don’t view it as a hit on me.”

The complimentary remarks were unusual for Trump, who spent much of the midterm campaign portraying Democrats as communists, Islamists and political extremists.

Trump also reiterated that, unlike after his 2020 presidential election defeat, he accepted the results and was prepared to work with Democrats now that they would control Congress.

TRUMP BLAMES IRAN WAR

“I can work with them on many things,” Trump explained.

However, the president warned that he would use his executive authority to veto Democratic legislation he opposed.

“They can send over, you know, 50 different great bills that they’re all excited about, and I send them back with a nice stamp — ‘veto.’”

With the Iran war and rising oil prices weighing on voters, Trump acknowledged that the conflict may have contributed to the Republican defeat.

“I think a part of it was Iran, but at the same time, people understood the importance of what I’ve done with Iran,” he told Fox News.

REPUBLICANS FACE CRITICISM

Throughout the campaign, Trump repeatedly urged Republican supporters to vote as though he were personally on the ballot. After the defeat, however, he suggested his absence had contributed to the result.

“I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He later announced that he would “become a political pundit” and explain why Republicans had lost.

Among his targets was Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who was defeated by Democrat Gina Hinojosa. Trump accused Abbott of becoming a “RINO,” or Republican In Name Only, suggesting that his perceived disloyalty had contributed to the defeat.

The White House also questioned the quality of Republican candidates, despite Trump’s extensive campaigning on their behalf.

“Candidate quality matters, and President Trump did a better job promoting many of the candidates on the ballot than the candidates did themselves,” a White House official argued.

CHRISTIAN VOTE DIVIDED

Despite the Democratic gains, evangelical Christians remained among the Republican Party’s most reliable voting constituencies, particularly white evangelicals.

A Pew Research Center survey conducted before the elections found that 73 percent of white evangelical Protestant registered voters preferred Republican House candidates, compared with 12 percent who favored Democrats.

White Catholics also leaned Republican, with 50 percent supporting Republican candidates against 32 percent for Democrats.

However, 74 percent of Black Protestant registered voters favored Democrats, along with 59 percent of Hispanic Catholics, illustrating substantial political divisions within American Christianity.

The survey, conducted from September 28 to October 4, also found that Trump’s approval rating among white evangelical Protestant adults stood at 58 percent, making them the only major religious group surveyed in which a majority approved of his performance.

DEMOCRATS GAIN NEW POWERS

The figures reflected pre-election preferences rather than verified voting patterns from Tuesday’s elections.

Democratic control of Congress will give the opposition greater power to investigate the Trump administration, challenge its legislative agenda and influence federal spending when newly elected lawmakers take office in January.

The Democratic-controlled Senate will also be able to block presidential nominees, including appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court, should vacancies arise.

Yet the election outcome could further complicate Trump’s foreign policy, including his handling of the Iran conflict and future military assistance to Israel.

Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, Trump announced that he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to end roughly $4 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Israel at the end of 2026, arguing that the country no longer needed the funding.

ISRAEL AID ANNOUNCEMENT

However, the existing assistance agreement runs through 2028, and the administration has not explained how the proposed changes would be implemented. Netanyahu had not publicly confirmed the agreement, which comes as Israel continues to face significant security threats, including from Iran.

Trump, however, retains significant executive powers, including the ability to veto legislation and direct much of American foreign policy.

The White House signaled that Trump would continue confronting his political opponents despite the Republican losses.

“Anyone who voted Democrat today is going to have a serious case of buyer’s remorse when gas prices come down quickly when the Iran conflict is solved but they’re still stuck with a list of liberal extremist Democrats,” a White House official warned.

The official added that Trump’s determination to confront what the administration calls the “Radical Left” would only increase.

WHITE HOUSE WARNING

“Buckle up,” the official concluded.

As the election results unfolded, Trump and senior administration officials watched the Republican losses from a reception in the White House’s lavish East Room.

Some White House staff members dined on takeout from The Cheesecake Factory, an American restaurant chain that former President Barack Obama had recently invoked while mocking Trump’s White House renovations.

Obama had joked that Trump had the White House looking as though “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”

The restaurant order appeared to be a pointed response to Obama’s criticism, providing an unexpected moment of humor amid the Republican losses.

It was an unusual culinary backdrop to an election night that left Trump facing an uphill battle with a Democratic-controlled Congress for the final two years of his presidency.

Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.