Trump Says He’ll Become “Mr. Veto” and Block Democrats’ Bills if They Win Congress Tuesday

Donald Trump says he will become “Mr. Veto” if Democrats win control of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections. His plan is to block their bills for a month or two, then eventually cut deals.

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Trump described the strategy in an interview with the New York Post’s Miranda Devine, and Fox News aired a clip on Sunday. “I’ll become Mr. Veto, I’m not gonna lie,” he said. “And then at some point, we’ll probably make deals.”

He laid out how he expects the standoff to play out. “They’ll be sending stuff up, you veto it,” Trump said. “Eventually, after a month or two of getting all vetoed, you know, it’s just waste, they come over and make a deal.”

He also made clear he would rather avoid that scenario altogether. “Hopefully we don’t have to worry about that,” he said.

Here is how a veto works. When Congress passes a bill, it goes to the president. If the president signs it, the bill becomes law. If he vetoes it, he rejects the bill and sends it back. Congress can still force the bill into law by overriding the veto, but that takes a two thirds vote in both the House and the Senate. Passing the bill in the first place only took a simple majority.

That high bar is what gives the Mr. Veto threat its teeth. Democrats could flip the House, the Senate, or both on Tuesday. Even so, they would almost certainly fall short of two thirds in either chamber. On most bills, Trump’s veto would be the final word.

The power runs both ways, though. A Democratic House or Senate could refuse to pass the bills Trump wants, so his own agenda would stall too. That is why his comments end with making deals. Government funding is where a standoff like this would hit hardest, because Congress has to pass spending bills to keep federal agencies open.

Trump made the Mr. Veto comments as polling shows Republicans in a tough spot. A new NBC News poll puts Trump’s disapproval rating at 60 percent, a record high. The same poll gives Democrats a 7 point lead on which party voters want running Congress.

Every House seat is on the ballot Tuesday, all 435 of them. So are 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats. The president’s party has historically lost ground in midterm elections. The results will decide whether Trump spends his final two years working with a Republican Congress or with a Democratic majority he has already promised to veto.

Dee Dee Henderson

Dee Dee Henderson is a Poli Alert journalist covering national politics, elections and the policies that hit closest to home for Black communities, from voting rights and the economy to the courts. She reports the facts first and isn't afraid to say what they mean, and her commentary pieces are clearly labeled as opinion. Her midterm coverage breaks down deadlines, ballot measures and the races that will decide who holds power in Washington.

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