President Donald Trump told Senate Republicans on Wednesday that the shutdown negatively affected the party’s performance on election night.
Trump gathered Congressional Republicans for breakfast at the White House to discuss the results of the election and eliminating the filibuster, The Hill reported. The president reacted to the election night results in which Democrats overperformed and won major victories, including the New York City mayoral race, the Virginia governor’s race, the Virginia attorney general race and the New Jersey governor’s race. (RELATED: Democrats’ New Theory Of Politics Faces First Stress Test)
“Last night, it was not expected to be a victory, it was very Democrat areas. But I don’t think it was good for Republicans. I don’t think it was good — I’m not sure it was good for anybody,” the president said. “But we had an interesting evening, and we learned a lot and we’re going to talk about that.”
US President Donald Trump arrives to speak as Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (L) (R-WY) and Vice President JD Vance (2R) applaud during a breakfast meeting with Senate Republicans in the State Dining Room of the White House on November 5, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump told Senate Republicans that they would have a conversation about the election and what it represented for the party.
“I think, if you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor. Negative for the Republicans, and that was a big factor,” the president said, adding that he was told his lack of presence on the ballot was also a problem.
One year after Trump won the presidential election, former Democratic Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger comfortably defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, flipping the Virginia governors seat. NBC News called the race an hour after the polls closed with 30% of the vote in.
Democrats also won a close race for Virginia attorney general, after it was revealed that their candidate, Jay Jones, fantasized about putting “two bullets to the head” of former House Speaker Todd Gilbert. A series of leaked 2022 text messages between Jones and then-Republican colleague Del. Carrie Coyner also revealed Jones talked about seeing Gilbert’s wife and kids dead.
In New Jersey, Democrats held the governorship and in New York City, an avowed socialist Zohran Mamdani, won his race for mayor.
Meanwhile, the government shutdown became the longest in the nation’s history, surpassing the previous record of 35 days which happened during Trump’s first term.