Trump Says He Will Accept Midterm Results as Democrats Move to Take Congress

President Donald Trump said Tuesday night that he is willing to accept the results of the midterm elections, which put Democrats on track to take control of Congress. His remarks were his first reaction to the results. They came as a blue wave began to take shape, after he had posted angrily on social media before major races were called. Trump also said Republicans would have won in a landslide had he been on the ballot. He described himself as absolutely willing to accept the outcome, and one headline said he would work with Congress. One account described the Democratic win as a landslide, while another said Democrats appeared poised to gain control after a series of major victories. The available reports do not give seat totals or name specific races.

The right-leaning Newsmax leads with Trump's conciliatory tone. Its headline stresses that he will accept Democratic victories and work with Congress, and its excerpt quotes his willingness to accept the results while using the cautious phrase "appeared poised" for the Democratic takeover. The excerpt does not mention his claim about the ballot. The left-leaning New York Times puts the Democratic result first, calling it a landslide, and then adds Trump's willingness to accept it. Its excerpt is a newsletter teaser about voting from space and offers no further detail on Trump's remarks. Both agree that Trump said he would accept the results; they differ on whether the headline centers on the president's response or on the scale of the Democratic win. Axios, the independent outlet, takes a distinct angle. It leads with Trump's claim that Republicans lost because he was not on the ballot, and it adds his earlier social media outbursts, details the other two excerpts leave out.