Donald Trump paved the way for an even further rightward shift by his administration this weekend, saying the United States had taken a “giant step backward” by largely rejecting his party.
Stephen Miller, hard-line advisor to the American president, will take office as White House chief of staff on Monday. He will also meet with Dana White, CEO and President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, after offering him the position of press secretary.
“America took a giant step backwards in history with the results of the last election,” Trump said Sunday morning in a message on his Truth Social platform, citing the sharp liquidation on global markets that fueled the rout of American technology stocks. “But have no fear, we will come back, BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN EVER!” »
Although Republicans lost control of both houses of the U.S. Congress in Tuesday’s pivotal midterm elections and voters across the country are expressing frustration with key pillars of Trump’s controversial agenda, from the war in Iran to drastic tariffs, the administration appears ready to move forward.
Miller’s promotion fueled expectations that Trump would be willing to double down on his aggressive crackdown on immigration, stoke culture war battles and refuse concessions to the new Democratic majority in Congress. The move “indicates that the administration is going to take a fight-from-a-bunker approach over the last two years,” Dan Eberhart, a Trump donor and energy sector official, told Reuters.
Trump abruptly announced Saturday that he had offered White, whom he described as “a violent fighter and warrior,” the role of White House press secretary, which has been largely vacant since Karoline Leavitt left the administration this summer. Leavitt’s initial replacement, Katie Zacharia, served in the role for five days.
“Dana will be a press secretary like no other,” Trump said. “Dana, please take the job!” »
After Trump also threatened Democrats considering oversight of his administration and his family, announcing that he had ordered the U.S. Justice Department to “look into them,” Attorney General Todd Blanche told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that “there might be” investigations. Republicans faced “dangerous” threats, Blanche said, without specifying what crimes he believed had been committed. “You have to draw a line.”
Democrats have made clear that Miller and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and close Trump ally, will likely be targets of congressional investigations once the party regains control of Congress in January.
Congressman Robert Garcia, a California Democrat who is expected to chair the powerful House Oversight Committee next year, said Sunday that investigations should explore Musk’s involvement in the Department of Government Efficiency’s mass firing of federal workers last year, and Miller’s role in Trump’s immigration crackdown. “I think there is a lot of interest – not only from our committee, but from the entire Congress – in talking to Mr. Musk,” Garcia told CNN.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, set to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, also requested information about the business dealings of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his son Donald Trump Jr.
With 33 of 35 Senate elections called, Democrats won 54 seats to Republicans’ 44. Votes are still being counted in Alaska, which has long been considered a key battleground, and in Mississippi, a former Republican stronghold that remains too close to call.
Congressman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who currently heads the House Oversight Committee before his party ceded control to Democrats, told Fox News that the committee will spend the final two months of this Congress investigating Alaska over the controversy surrounding its Senate race.
Trump has already threatened Democratic candidate Mary Peltola with criminal charges over reports that his campaign was linked to the recruitment of a second “Dan Sullivan” in the Alaska Senate race, with the same name as the Republican candidate.
Democrats, meanwhile, embarked on a victory lap this weekend, celebrating their historic victories on Tuesday. Democratic candidates won after introducing policies that would “change the lives of working people,” New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani told Fox News on Sunday.
“We are witnessing a moment where the American working class has made it clear that they are tired of waiting,” Mamdani said. “They are tired of being constantly told that they have nothing to make ends meet, while we see the emergence of the world’s first billionaire in the person of Elon Musk.”
But there has been friction within the party over the new leadership of Congress, with Chuck Schumer poised to become the next majority leader in the U.S. Senate, with Hakeem Jeffries widely expected to become House speaker.
Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton of Kansas — the first Democrat the state has sent to the U.S. Senate in nearly a century — told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that Schumer is a “kind of polarizing figure,” adding, “It feels like it’s a time for fresh, new ideas, and someone who can unite us instead of divide us.” »
The celebrations nevertheless continued.
During a Saturday Night Live skit this weekend, a cast member impersonated Trump by attacking James Talarico, the Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Texas, and calling him “Talafreako” — only for Talarico himself to walk out on stage.
” It is senator Talafreako,” he said to loud cheers, after becoming the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas since 1994.
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