Trump says he will accept US midterm results if elections are honest

US President Donald Trump has said he will respect the results of the November 3 midterm elections as long as they are honest. The midterms will determine which party controls Congress, and a Democratic win could limit his power.

A reporter asked Trump on Tuesday, before he left for two rallies in Texas supporting Republican candidates, how he would work with Democrats if they won the House or the Senate. Trump replied, "We'll figure a way." He said he has strong veto power and added that he hoped such a situation would not arise, but that it had happened to many presidents before and they ended up working out deals.

Asked whether he would respect the results whatever happens, Trump said, "I will if they're honest elections." The Independent noted that the remark resembles what he said before the 2024 election, which he won. In May 2024 he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he would gladly accept the results if everything was honest, but that if not, people would have to fight for the right of the country.

The Independent also reported that Trump has questioned the integrity of the voting process before the 2020 and 2024 elections, and is doing so again a week before Election Day. Early voting has begun, and according to NBC News more than 33 million votes have been cast in person or by mail.

In Alaska, Trump has directed the Justice Department to file a lawsuit to block certification of a tight Senate race if Senator Dan Sullivan loses. Trump and other Republicans say a second, unaffiliated candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the ballot could draw votes from the Republican incumbent. Trump has claimed that candidate is running only because Democrats want to steal the election.

On CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, host Dana Bash asked Attorney General Todd Blanche whether Trump was laying the groundwork to try to overturn the election, as he did after losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. Blanche told her to stop and called the suggestion crazy.

A Washington Post analysis published Tuesday found that nearly 600 popular right-wing social media accounts, podcasts and other online media have published more than 7,000 statements questioning the integrity of this year's midterms. A recent Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll found 70 percent of Americans were not confident Trump would accept the results if his party loses, while 28 percent were confident he would.