STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Democrats will soon be in control of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Their victories came in states across this country, including states that have not elected Republicans to statewide office in decades.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Annie Andrews will be the next senator from South Carolina...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ANNIE ANDREWS: I think we just made some history.
MARTIN: ...James Talarico in Texas...
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JAMES TALARICO: People across the political spectrum are hungry for a different kind of politics - not a politics of hate, not a politics of fear, not a politics of division, but a politics of love.
(CHEERING)
MARTIN: ...And Roy Cooper in North Carolina.
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ROY COOPER: We told Washington loud and clear that North Carolinians will always matter more than the billionaires and the insiders.
(CHEERING)
INSKEEP: Now, in total, Democrats flipped at least seven Senate seats from Republicans. Others came in Kansas, Ohio, Iowa and Maine. Yes, I said Kansas. In the House, Democrats will control at least 222 seats. Many are still being counted. Republicans even lost some districts that they had gerrymandered in order to win. Republicans spent the past two years waging war on diversity, equity and inclusion, and last night, they lost again and again and again to a diverse slate of candidates. Five states elected Black governors - four Democrats, and one Republican. A Latina Democrat will be the next governor of Texas.
MARTIN: As the results came in last night, President Trump at first blamed Republican candidates. He blamed the media, including Fox News, and he pledged to be Mr. Veto.
INSKEEP: But as things wore on and results got worse and worse for his party, he congratulated Democrats.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Democrats did a good job. I really do. I think they did a good job. They fought hard.
INSKEEP: President speaking on Fox News there, I believe. He also said more than once that he would respect the outcome of the elections.
MARTIN: NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez is here to talk about what the midterms mean for President Trump. Good morning, Franco, to you.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So he repeatedly told supporters to pretend that he was on the ballot. How effective was that strategy?
ORDOÑEZ: I mean, Michel, it did not work. I mean, President Trump made himself the central figure in this midterm election, barnstorming across the country. He banked on his personality and appeal with supporters to basically offset those low approval numbers and concerns about the economy and the high cost of gas. But that also made it a lot more difficult for vulnerable candidates to separate themselves from him. And Trump also made it hard for Republicans with some of his hand-picked candidates who really just could not run out of his shadow. I mean, just look at the states where Trump was most invested. I mean, Trump visited Texas three times after putting his thumb on the scale for Ken Paxton. But now James Talarico is the first Democratic senator of Texas in almost four decades. Even more surprising, in South Carolina, Trump encouraged Darline Graham, the late Senator Lindsey Graham's sister, into the Senate race. He visited South Carolina twice in October, but now they have a new Democratic senator - Annie Andrews. Trump declined, though, to take any blame, telling Fox News this.
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TRUMP: But I don't view it as a hit on me.
ORDOÑEZ: But, you know, as we're saying, this is clearly a referendum against Trump.
MARTIN: This was a pretty thorough loss for President Trump and for the Republicans. Is there more reaction that we expect from the president? How do we expect him to respond to this going forward?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, I mean, I think we can expect that Trump is going to be pretty confrontational going forward, especially with the relationship with Democrats. I mean, Democrats are expected to launch all sorts of investigations of Trump and his family, and Trump has signaled that he will continue to flex his executive powers as he already has. But he did also say that he'll make some deals, and you saw a little hint of that attitude with his willingness to congratulate Democrats. You know, he did do the same thing back in 2018 during his first term, though things did eventually turn, you know, somewhat contentious. So it is a bit of a wait-and-see moment.
MARTIN: And at least based on some of what they talked about during the campaign, Democrats are already pledging to be confrontational themselves, right?
ORDOÑEZ: Oh, yeah. I mean, just last night, the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Colorado's (ph) Robert Garcia, he said - or he vowed to take on the Trump crime family, ICE abuses and, in his words, the cover-up of the Epstein files. But again, back to the 2018 midterms, Republicans lost the House then, and Trump actually started to negotiate with then Democratic speaker Nancy Pelosi on spending, on trade and on criminal justice reform.
MARTIN: And before we let you go, Franco, what do these results say about the direction of the Republican Party? Is this the beginning of life post-Trump?
ORDOÑEZ: I mean, look. The Republican Party is at a crossroads. Republicans are already grappling with the question of what this party is without Trump and if and how they want to separate themselves from MAGA. I mean, it's so tied to Trump himself. On the one hand, they don't want to actually repeat the mistakes of the midterms, but on the other, they don't want to abandon Trump's supporters. That is why, you know, 2028 is going to be so interesting because the presidential election will reveal a lot about whether this party can figure out a path forward without Trump.
MARTIN: That is White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Franco, thank you.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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