Key facts
- Bill Miller, a Texas Republican lobbyist, told the BBC the result was a total, complete rejection of President Trump.
- A White House ally said disapproval over the Iran war, tariffs and the immigration crackdown created a perfect storm in November.
- Democrats had not won a Senate seat in Kansas since 1932 before the 2026 result, the BBC reported.
- Trump told Fox News he was a little bit surprised by the results and said he would accept them.
- Trump-aligned Super PAC MAGA Inc. spent hundreds of millions backing Republican candidates, the BBC reported.
Democrats won control of the House and Senate in the November 3, 2026 midterm elections, defeating Republicans in states including Texas, Kansas and South Carolina. The result prompted anger within the Republican Party directed at US President Donald Trump, according to a BBC report published on November 4, 2026.
Bill Miller, a top Republican lobbyist in Texas, told the BBC: "It's on him. It's not on anybody else. It's a total, complete rejection of President Trump." He added: "This is a disaster of the first magnitude. Nobody saw it coming like this."
Gregg Peppin, a Republican strategist in Minnesota, said: "It was just one mistake after another. Clearly, in state after state, people did not like the president's policies." A White House ally said public disapproval with Trump over the Iran war, tariffs and the administration's immigration crackdown created a "perfect storm" in November, adding that anger with Trump "is extremely high."
Trump was silent for much of the night before posting on Truth Social after the House and Senate were called for Democrats: "I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!" He later told the New York Times and Fox News he would accept the election results, and told Fox he was a "little bit surprised."
Trump allies defended him, pointing to the history of midterm elections and weak Republican candidates in battleground states. Steve Scheffler, the Republican National Committeeman in Iowa, said: "I don't think his influence is slipping," but added "there were things you wish he said differently." Krish Mathrani, the Michigan Republican Party's youth chair, said: "President Trump is a turnout machine."
The BBC said it spoke to a dozen party operatives, campaign officials, White House allies and others, many on background. Before the election, Democrats had not won a Senate seat in Kansas since 1932 and had not won a statewide race in Texas in more than three decades, the BBC reported. The principal Trump-aligned Super PAC, MAGA Inc., spent hundreds of millions backing Republican candidates.