US President Donald Trump is monitoring the results of the midterm elections from the East Room of the White House, where a watch party has been organized for election night. Members of his Cabinet and political advisers have joined him.
“President Trump, members of the Cabinet and political advisers have gathered in the East Room of the White House for a reception where they are watching the election results as they are announced,” a representative of the president said.
The vote determines the composition of the entire 435-member House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate. Republicans are entering the vote with 219 seats in the lower chamber compared with 214 for Democrats, with two seats vacant. To secure a majority, Democrats must win at least three seats.
The gap is wider in the Senate. Democrats need to gain four seats to take control of the upper chamber. Early projections and analyses suggest that the party could retake the House of Representatives and, with a stronger result, control of the entire Congress. In the initial hours after the polling stations closed, however, neither chamber had been definitively decided.
The result could change the final two years of the term
Control of Congress will have a direct impact on Trump's legislative agenda during the second half of his presidential term. A Democratic majority in the House would give the party control of committees, subpoena powers and broader opportunities to investigate the administration's actions. This would not remove the president's power to veto legislation, but it would make it more difficult to advance legislative initiatives from the White House.
The elections are taking place against a backdrop of low public approval of the president's performance and competitive races in states that Trump won in the 2024 presidential election. According to CBS News, early exit polls show 38% approval for the president, which would be the lowest result for an incumbent president in a midterm election in modern comparisons cited by the media outlet.
Trump Media shares fell in over-the-counter trading
The market reacted hesitantly to the initial election results. Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind the Truth Social social network, closed the November 3 trading session at $5.95. The share price then fell to $5.88 in over-the-counter trading, according to Yahoo Finance data.
In a separate interim report cited in the information on the stock's movement, the shares had stood at $5.55. This represents a 1.94% decline from the closing price on November 2 and a 6.72% drop compared with the end of trading on November 3.
The coming hours will show whether the early projections of a shift in the balance of power in Congress will be confirmed. In close races, the final allocation of seats may remain unclear even after election night.
Sources: apnews.com, cbsnews.com, finance.yahoo.com