With voters still casting ballots across the country on Election Day, President Donald Trump has privately conceded that his party may be facing the worst-case scenario in Tuesday’s midterm elections, according to sources close to the president cited by CNN.
The same sources said Trump has, at times, seemed hopeful that the polling is wrong and that Republicans will do better than surveys suggest. He has told aides he believes his own involvement, including campaign spending, tele-rallies and trips to fundraise and promote Republican candidates, gave the party “a fighting chance.”
A watch party at the White House
Trump plans to watch the results come in tonight with a small group of allies and Cabinet members in the East Room, while the White House and his political operation, MAGA Inc., have set up war rooms on the White House campus and nearby to monitor returns, CNN reported. Two White House officials said they would be ready for any scenario, including Trump choosing to speak to reporters as results arrive.
CNN noted the setup is reminiscent of 2022, when Trump watched the midterm results at Mar-a-Lago expecting a strong night for the candidates he had endorsed. Several of those MAGA-aligned candidates lost high-profile races, and the press was ushered out as Trump fumed at his staff over their role in helping choose them.
Talk of a “forensic audit”
In recent weeks, Trump has also talked about requiring a “forensic audit” of how the massive MAGA Inc. and Republican National Committee war chest was spent, according to two sources who spoke to CNN. Members of his political operation are preparing to be called to the White House to present a detailed report to the president.
One source said Trump required a similar audit of his campaign team in 2024. Another said Trump has had private concerns that advisers may be making exorbitant amounts of money from those coffers.
What’s at stake tonight
Democrats need a net gain of three seats to take the House and four seats to take the Senate. Top House Democrats told CNN they are confident of winning a comfortable majority, while Trump’s Cabinet members have struck an optimistic tone as they gather at the White House.
The first polls close at 6 p.m. ET in parts of Kentucky and Indiana, and the outcome will shape the final two years of Trump’s presidency.