Donald Trump signaled over the weekend that his administration will shift further to the right, insisting the country had taken a 'giant step back' by roundly rejecting his party. His hardline aide Stephen Miller starts as White House chief of staff on Monday, and Trump offered the press secretary job to Dana White, head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Writing on his Truth Social platform on Sunday morning, Trump pointed to a sharp sell-off in global markets, fueled by a rout of US tech stocks. 'America took a giant step back in History with the results of the last Election,' he claimed. 'But have no fear, we will be back, BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!'
Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday's midterm elections, with voters nationwide voicing frustration at central pillars of Trump's agenda, from the Iran war to sweeping tariffs. Yet the administration appears set to press ahead.
Miller's promotion has stoked expectations that Trump will double down on an aggressive immigration crackdown, escalate culture war battles and refuse concessions to the Democratic majority. It 'signals the administration is going to have a fighting-from-a-bunker approach the last two years', Dan Eberhart, a Trump donor and energy executive, told Reuters.
Trump abruptly announced on Saturday that he had offered White, whom he described as 'a violent Fighter and Warrior', the role of press secretary, largely vacant since Karoline Leavitt left this summer. Her initial replacement, Katie Zacharia, lasted five days. 'Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other,' Trump said. 'Dana, please take the job!'
Trump also threatened Democrats planning oversight of his administration and family, announcing he had ordered the Justice Department to 'look into' them. Attorney General Todd Blanche told CNN's State of the Union that 'there could be' investigations, claiming Republicans have faced 'dangerous' threats, without specifying any crimes.
Democrats have said Miller and Elon Musk, the world's richest man and a close ally of the president, are likely targets of congressional investigations once they take control in January. Robert Garcia of California, set to chair the House oversight committee, said probes would examine Musk's role in the Department of Government Efficiency's mass firing of federal employees last year and Miller's part in the immigration crackdown. Jamie Raskin, poised to chair the House judiciary committee, has requested information on business dealings involving Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and his son Donald Trump Jr.
With 33 of 35 Senate races called, Democrats had won 54 seats to the Republicans' 44. Votes were being counted in Alaska and Mississippi, the latter a former Republican stronghold too close to call. James Comer, the Kentucky Republican who chairs the House oversight committee, told Fox News his panel would spend its last two months before Democrats take control investigating the Alaska race. Trump has threatened Democratic candidate Mary Peltola with criminal prosecution over reports her campaign was tied to recruiting a second 'Dan Sullivan', a namesake of the Republican candidate.
Democrats spent the weekend celebrating historic wins. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani told Fox News that candidates won on policies that would 'change working peoples' lives'. 'We are seeing a moment in time where working class Americans have made very clear that they are tired of waiting,' he said, adding that they are tired of being told there is less for them while 'the world's first trillionaire' emerges in Elon Musk.
Friction surfaced over the incoming leadership, with Chuck Schumer set to become Senate majority leader and Hakeem Jeffries widely expected to become House speaker. Senator-elect Adam Hamilton of Kansas, the first Democrat his state has sent to the Senate in almost a century, told NBC's Meet the Press that Schumer is a 'kind of polarizing figure', adding that it was time for fresh ideas and someone who could unite rather than divide.
