CNN’s Kaitlan Collins has sounded a warning after President Donald Trump’s surprisingly meek response to his crushing midterm defeat.
Early Wednesday, as Republicans were routed in House and Senate races across the U.S., Trump congratulated Democrats and offered to work with them.
But in a post on X, Collins, CNN’s chief White House correspondent, said that Trump’s response sounded familiar.
“President Trump tonight sounds almost exactly as he did in the aftermath of the GOP losses in 2018: he’s congratulating Democrats, blaming individual Republican candidates and proposing working with Washington Democrats on issues where they agree,” she posted.
As results rolled in, Trump hit the airwaves, telling Fox News that Democrats did a “good job,” and saying there are “many, many things” he could work with them on in Congress. He said he didn’t see the defeat, which came after he personally campaigned for several losing candidates, as a “hit on me.”
Back in 2018, two years into Trump’s first term, when Democrats seized control of the House, Trump similarly offered to work with the party, claiming he wanted “unity and peace and love.” He sought to deflect blame for the defeat, mocking candidates who did not “embrace” him on the campaign trail.
But after those losses, Trump was involved in a bitter two-year standoff with the House, which included a 35-day government shutdown, an impeachment investigation, and congressional deadlock on a range of issues.
Trump will likely face even tougher battles after Tuesday’s results, with the victory handing Democrats sweeping powers to launch investigations into Trump and his inner circle, stymie legislation, and possibly launch new impeachment inquiries.
Trump retains veto power over legislation passed by the new Democratic-majority Congress, and on Tuesday said he didn’t “want to be just sitting there for two years vetoing everything.” However, Trump has also said he welcomes being known as “Mr. Veto” because of his power to strike down Democratic bills.
In a podcast appearance last week, Collins said that Trump could take an even tougher approach with congressional Democrats after losses this year than he did in 2018.
“I don’t think that they will handle congressional oversight the way they did the first time, and I think that the president hated being impeached so much, even though he expects it and thinks it’ll happen again this time,” Collins told host Kara Swisher. “I think there will be way more pushback from the DOJ and from the White House, even than what we saw in the last time around.”
