Trump congratulates Democrats in election night call with CBS News

President Donald Trump responded to Republican losses in the midterm elections by offering congratulations to Democrats during a phone interview with CBS News on election night. He said he expects to cooperate with the party across the aisle, noting that he holds veto power and suggesting Democrats would not want him to simply reject everything they send him. He said he knows many Democrats and is confident they can settle their differences.

Trump placed responsibility for the defeats on the fact that his name was not on the ballot, asserting that Republicans would have won easily had it been. He said that in some races voters disliked the GOP nominees, and that some of those candidates were not allies of his, which he said the party's base understood well and which kept supporters home. He described the situation as sad.

Asked whether he was upset, Trump said he had given the effort his full energy and had nothing held back. He said he tried to help candidates win but they could not get elected, and he characterized the outcome as a moment in time that has occurred on many earlier occasions.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CBS News’s reporting. Read the full story at CBS News →