Trump Says He Accepts the Results, Blames Gas Prices From the Iran War, and Posts a 'VETO' Hat

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he accepts the results of the midterm elections in which Democrats won control of the House and Senate, while blaming part of the outcome on voters' reaction to higher gasoline prices during the war with Iran and signaling that he intends to use his veto power against the new Congress, according to the BBC and other outlets.

'A little surprised'

In an interview with Fox News, Trump said he was "a little surprised" at the outcome. "I thought they'd do better," he said of Republican candidates, according to the BBC.

Asked what lessons the results held, Trump said, "I think a part of it was Iran," the BBC reported. "People agree with what I'm doing on Iran but they really probably weren't willing to do the short term consequences of paying more for gasoline - I understand that."

Anadolu Agency, under the headline "Trump links midterm defeat to voter unhappiness over fuel costs during Iran war," also reported that the president expressed willingness to cooperate with the incoming Democratic majorities in Congress.

Trump told The New York Times he was "absolutely willing to accept" the results and would "look forward to working with" Democrats, according to the BBC.

The veto

He also said Democrats would send "insane" legislation to his desk that he would veto. "After a couple of months of vetoes, they'll call and they'll say, 'how do we get this stuff done?' And we'll work together," Trump told Fox News, according to the BBC. "I have the power of veto."

On Truth Social, Trump posted a photo of a red cap, the kind usually printed with his Make America Great Again slogan, bearing the word "VETO," the BBC reported. Before the election, he said on the Pod Force One podcast that if Democrats took Congress, "I'll become Mr. Veto," adding, "and then at some point we'll probably make deals," according to NPR.

With Democrats in control of both chambers, the 12 annual appropriations bills that fund the government will require agreement between the parties, NPR noted.

Blame for Abbott, praise for Democrats

Trump directed his sharpest criticism at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who lost to Democrat Gina Hinojosa. "If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn't become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn't have lost," Trump wrote on Truth Social, using the acronym for "Republican in Name Only," according to the BBC. "He went back to his original formula, and it wasn't pretty!"

He also wrote that if he had been on the ballot, Republicans "would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!" the BBC reported. As losses mounted Tuesday night, he posted that he would "become a Political Pundit, both good and bad, on the reasons these Candidates won and lost."

Trump told CBS News that "in some cases they [voters] didn't like the candidates, and in some cases those candidates were not my friend," according to the BBC.

In a video of his remarks published by the BBC, Trump said Democrats "did a good job," a notable concession from a president who, in the same set of interviews and posts, faulted his own party's candidates and one of its most prominent governors.

Criticism of Fox News

Over the evening, Trump also criticized Fox News in several Truth Social posts, saying the network was "spending too much time" covering Democrats and that its ratings were "way down, not because of me, but because they are AGAINST me!" the BBC reported. He objected to the network's interview with former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, whom he called "the Worst Mayor" in the city's history.

The backdrop

Trump is barred by the Constitution from seeking a third term. Before the election, his approval ratings were hovering below 40 percent, NPR reported, and in the closing weeks he urged Republican voters to act as if he were on the ballot.

Earlier on Election Day, in a phone interview with Fox & Friends, Trump said the United States would stop providing about $4 billion a year in assistance to Israel by the end of this year, an announcement that drew questions about the existing aid agreement, which runs through 2028.

The White House had not released a formal statement on the election results as of Wednesday morning in the reports reviewed.