Photo: Shawn Miller / Library of Congress, via Wikimedia Commons. File photo of the US Capitol at sunset in February 2026.
President Donald Trump has said he may have to become "Mr. Veto" if Democrats win a majority in Tuesday's midterm elections — a rare public acknowledgment from the president that his party could lose control of Congress. The remark, in a New York Post podcast interview aired on Fox News on Sunday, landed alongside a Reuters report that the White House has spent months quietly preparing to govern without Congress if that happens.
Together, the two disclosures sketch the White House's plan for 2027: block Democratic legislation with the veto pen, advance the president's agenda through executive action where possible, and force negotiations after a month or two of stalemate.
What Trump said
"They'll be sending stuff up, you veto it," Trump said in a preview clip of the interview, aired on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures ahead of its full release on Monday. "Eventually, after a month or two of getting all vetoed — you know, it's just waste — they come over and make a deal."
"I guess I'll become Mr. Veto," he added, saying he would not let Democrats "ruin it." He also said he hoped it would not come to that — a remark widely read as expressing a preference that his party hold Congress.
The comments mark a shift in tone from a president who has spent the past month campaigning relentlessly to preserve Republican control. Polls favour Democrats to win the House, while the Senate race remains too close to call. Democrats need a net gain of four seats in both chambers to overturn the Republicans' narrow 218-214 House and 53-47 Senate majorities. More than 52 million Americans had already voted early ahead of Tuesday's election, a record for a midterm, according to the University of Florida's Election Lab.
The White House's parallel plan
According to Reuters, senior officials — including deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and budget director Russell Vought — have been working with the White House Counsel's Office since April to identify executive actions on immigration, tariffs, housing costs and federal spending that Trump could pursue without congressional approval.
White House counsel Will Scharf and his team are also examining what Trump can legally do on his own, where he could push the limits of his authority, and how to defend those decisions in court, a White House official told Reuters. The White House plans to seek legal opinions from the Justice Department on what the president can do without Congress.
Trump has repeatedly invoked national emergencies to expand his ability to act without new legislation. Congress can vote to end those emergencies, but Trump could veto such a move, requiring two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override him — a threshold Democrats are unlikely to reach even if they win both chambers. Trump used his veto power 10 times during his first term and twice so far in his second, according to reports of the interview.
What Democrats could still do
One thing executive action cannot sidestep is congressional investigation. Reuters previously reported that senior House Democrats and committee aides have discussed using hearings, subpoenas and document requests to examine whether Trump has used presidential power to benefit himself, allies or donors.
Control of the Senate would also let Democrats block Trump's judicial and executive-branch nominees, including any Supreme Court pick. And on trade, Democrats are eager to pass legislation negating many of Trump's tariffs — including Senator Chuck Schumer's "End Trump's Tariff Tax Act" — though any such bill would face Trump's veto. Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the tax-focused Senate Finance Committee, has said repealing Trump's tariffs on Canada would be an early priority.
Trade experts told Reuters that even symbolic tariff-rollback votes and oversight hearings into tariff exemptions and the handling of investment funds pledged by Japan, South Korea and other trading partners would shift the trade debate heading into the 2028 election cycle — but would be unlikely to deter Trump from pursuing more tariffs in his final two years.
The stakes on Tuesday
Thirty-five Senate seats and all 435 House seats are on the ballot on Tuesday. Losing either chamber would let Democrats block Trump's legislative agenda and launch investigations of an administration that has so far faced largely compliant Republican majorities.
Trump's own message to voters in the campaign's final days has combined confidence with contingency: keep the majorities, he tells rally crowds — but if Democrats win, expect vetoes, executive orders, and then, in his telling, a deal.
Sources: Bloomberg, November 1, 2026 (via The Straits Times, Moneycontrol and The Hindu BusinessLine); Reuters, November 1, 2026 (White House executive-action planning, citing a White House official and two people familiar with the plans, speaking anonymously); University of Florida Election Lab early-vote figures via Reuters. The "Mr. Veto" remarks come from a New York Post podcast interview clip aired on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures on November 1.