US President Donald Trump has expressed surprise and disappointment following the Republican Party’s heavy losses in the 2026 midterm elections, blaming some candidates and rising fuel prices linked to the war in Iran.
In some of his first public comments after Democrats recorded major victories, Trump admitted that Republicans had performed below expectations.
Speaking in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, he said he was “a little bit surprised” by the election results.
“I thought we would do better. We had tremendous rallies, thousands of people outside, let alone inside, that couldn’t get in,” Trump said.
The president also suggested that some Republican candidates had failed to attract voters, despite his efforts to mobilise support through campaign appearances across several states and congressional districts.
In a separate phone interview with Politico, Trump said voters had not been enthusiastic about some of the candidates fielded by his party.
“They didn’t agree, and they didn’t like the candidates in most cases. Just one of those things,” he said, adding that although several Republicans had won, the party had not secured enough victories.
Trump had repeatedly urged voters during his campaign appearances to treat the midterm elections as though he himself were on the ballot.
However, shortly after Democrats were projected to take control of the House of Representatives, he took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to insist that his absence from the ballot was responsible for the Republican setback.
“I wasn’t on the ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” he wrote.
The president also played a significant role in several closely contested Republican races, including the Texas Senate contest, where he backed Ken Paxton against incumbent John Cornyn in the Republican primary.
He also endorsed Darline Graham in the South Carolina special election to fill the seat left vacant following the death of her brother, Lindsey Graham.
Both candidates were projected to lose their respective contests on Tuesday.
Despite the party’s disappointing performance, Trump declined to single out Republican candidates for blame, saying he had watched the results closely and intended to learn from the experience.
“I don’t want to blame anybody. I just want to say, you know, it was a very interesting period of time. I watched with great interest, learned from it,” he said.
Trump also attributed some of the party’s difficulties to high petrol prices associated with the ongoing war in Iran.
As Democratic victories mounted, the president launched fresh attacks on Republican figures, including the incumbent governor of Texas, who lost his bid for a fourth term.
The results represent a major setback for Trump and the Republican Party, with Democrats making significant gains amid voter dissatisfaction over the economy and the administration’s policies.
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