Trump Says He Will Accept the Midterm Results as Democrats Win Both Chambers; Mullin Says He Sent No ICE Agents to the Polls

President Donald Trump told the New York Times late Tuesday night that he would accept the results, after Democrats won the House and the Senate, The Washington Post reported. Asked about the results on Fox News, he said, “Yes, I’ll accept them,” and added, “Congratulations to the Democrats, they did a good job.” At the White House on Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters that he did not send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the polls, and there were no reports of troops. The Justice Department sent more than 900 monitors to some 120 jurisdictions in all 50 states.

The statement followed months of federal pressure on the election. Late on Election Day, Mullin warned that illegal voting could lead to five years in prison and $250,000 fines (see 2026-11-03–ice-posts-election-day-warning-if-you-vote-illegally-we-will-find-you). The Supreme Court rejected DOJ’s request on the California ballots Monday (2026-11-02–doj-asks-supreme-court-make-california-set-aside-20000-flagged-mail-ballots-sauer-application), and federal judges have rejected DOJ’s voter-roll suits in at least 27 decisions, States Newsroom reported. In September Trump had not ruled out emergency powers around the vote: 2026-09-28–trump-time-interview-haven-t-thought-of-ice-polling-places-doesn-t-rule-out-emergency-insurrection-act.