US President Donald Trump speaks on the day the final steel beam goes into the ballroom, at the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 4, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci
Reporters are starting to wonder if perhaps President Donald Trump is withdrawing from his normal public life to focus on his building projects instead after the GOP's humiliating election.
The U.S. Senate race in Mississippi still hasn't been called, but if it and Alaska flip to Democrats, Democrats will net nine Senate seats. Scott Colom (D-Miss.) spoke with voters Thursday morning as CNN filmed him and said they're seeing ballots going in his favor. So far, that's been the case. His lead has only expanded since Tuesday.
Manu Raju said that the Republicans he has spoken with agree that things are "going in the wrong direction." He recalled that a few weeks ago, Republicans considered rushing funding to Mississippi to shore it up. Now it's clear why. Democrats invested little, about $2.7 million, compared with $30 million for the Michigan Senate race.
"It just shows you howlackluster of a candidate cindyhyde-smith was to lose. Andcombined with all the economicfactors and the strength ofScott Colom's candidacy," said Raju.
"And when Donald Trump went to Mississippi, do you rememberwhat he said?" asked David Chalian said, remembering what Trump said when asked. "Like, oh, it wouldn't be this close. Likely. She's going to be fine. She's fine. I'm just here to, like, just double-check and make sure. But she's going to be totally fine."
According to CNN reports, however, the White House was furious with Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) for not taking her reelection seriously. She didn't do the fundraising that she needed to and "didn't lift a finger." The same story has repeated over the past several days. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) chaired the Republican congressional campaign apparatus and spent more time focused on other elections than his own and disappeared from the campaign trail at one point.
That pivoted into a conversation about how presidents react to losing, and it happens in every midterm election. Typically, presidents lose members of their party in their first midterm election. What they do with that is a real glimpse into their presidency, their identity and their legacy.
"It's not the first time apresident has gotten, um, their you-know-what handed to them," said host Dana Bash. "Their 'Jon Husted' handed tothem."
From George W. Bush to Barack Obama, both clearly acknowledged the hefty losses. Obama said, "I'm sure there are easier ways to learn these lessons."
Trump took a very different approach.
Standing under the roof of his giant ballroom structure, he told a group of workers that it was going to be "a structure the likes of which have never been seen."
CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes and the panel agreed that Trump would never be "joking around about losing."
"I mean, I was just saying this during the break. Watching him was — like, are you disassociating? Like, do you — are you still present on what's happening? I mean, this was the first — at one point he turned to, he's like — these guys wanted this to be a closed press event. Can you believe that when it's so great? I was like, no, I definitely can believe that your team did not want you out there doing this stuff when, like, you guys just — they were beautiful steel and beautiful veins going through the marble."