The White House has responded to the Republican Party’s heavy losses in Tuesday’s midterm elections with a blunt message: “PSA: Trump is still your president.”
The post, shared on the White House’s official X account on Wednesday, shows President Donald Trump glaring at the camera as he leans over the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, according to the French news agency AFP. It was captioned “Thank you for your attention to this matter,” a phrase Trump often uses to end his own social media posts. The post has been viewed millions of times and quickly went viral, drawing both cheers from supporters and mockery from critics.
A message after a bad night
The post came a day after Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The midterms were widely seen as a referendum on Trump’s second term, AFP reported, with voters frustrated over the cost of living, tariffs and the war with Iran, which has pushed up prices.
Republicans suffered painful defeats in states long seen as safe. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico beat Ken Paxton for a Senate seat and Gina Hinojosa unseated Governor Greg Abbott. In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews defeated Senator Darline Graham, in a state Trump won by 18 points in 2024. Democrats also flipped Senate seats in North Carolina and Ohio and won the Ohio governorship.
Trump: “I wasn’t on the ballot”
Trump himself has distanced himself from the results. On Tuesday night he wrote on Truth Social: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”, Newsweek reported. On the eve of the vote, he had told Fox News host Sean Hannity that “if our people vote, we win in a landslide.”
Newsweek described the Tuesday post as a shift in message, as Trump moved to separate his own standing from his party’s losses.
Why the White House is saying it
The message is a reminder that, despite losing Congress, Trump keeps strong powers for the remaining two years of his term. He still controls the executive branch, foreign policy and the military, and he can veto bills passed by Congress. Overriding a veto requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers, which Democrats do not have. AFP noted that Trump has already threatened to use his veto, which raises questions about how much the new Democratic majorities can achieve.
Supporters saw the post as a show of confidence. Critics saw it as a sign that the White House was rattled by the scale of the defeat.
The effects: two years of divided government
From January 2027, Democrats will be able to block Trump’s legislative agenda, refuse to confirm some of his nominees in the Senate and launch investigations into his administration. House Democrats have already promised oversight of immigration enforcement and other policies. Hakeem Jeffries is expected to become Speaker.
For Nigerians and other Africans, a divided Washington could slow or reshape changes to immigration and visa policy, trade and foreign aid, since many of these require Congress to approve funding or pass laws. At the same time, a president can still act through executive orders, meaning sudden policy changes remain possible.
What happens next
The new Congress will be sworn in on January 3, 2027. Until then, Republicans keep their current majorities in a “lame duck” session. Both parties will now look ahead to the 2028 presidential election, when Trump cannot run again because of term limits.
Sources: AFP (via The Korea Times and Asharq Al-Awsat), Newsweek, Tag24, The White House on X.
