Trump says will respect US midterm results 'if they're honest'
"I will, if they're honest elections," Trump told reporters when asked if he would respect the results of the midterms, as he headed on a campaign trip to Texas.
People wait in line to participate in early voting for the midterm elections on October 25, 2026 in Cary, North Carolina. (Photo by AFP)
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President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would respect the results of the US midterm elections "if they're honest," in what appeared to be a fresh bid to sow doubt ahead of next week's crucial vote.
Trump has ramped up his baseless, years-old claims of mass voter fraud as polls show Republicans could lose control of Congress in Tuesday's elections.
"I will, if they're honest elections," Trump told reporters when asked if he would respect the results of the midterms, as he headed on a campaign trip to Texas.
The 80-year-old president also gave a guarded pledge to work with the rival Democrats if Republicans lose their grip on the House of Representatives and Senate.
"We'll figure a way. Look, I have strong veto. I hope that that won't be the case, but if it is, that's happened before with many presidents," Trump said at Joint Base Andrews near Washington.
"You have strong veto, and you end up working on deals."
Republicans fear a Democrat "blue wave" in the midterms as voters punish them over inflation stoked by oil prices that have soared since Trump launched his war on Iran.
Trump has held near-daily rallies across the United States over the past month to increase turnout among his MAGA base, saying he is the only one who can stave off defeat.
His third visit to Texas in the past month reflects those concerns, with polls showing a close senate race in a state that has been solidly Republican for more than 30 years.
Trump said that in Texas on Tuesday he would receive a "gift" from Venezuela -- whose leader Nicolas Maduro was toppled in a US military operation in January -- of a tanker containing one million barrels of oil.
He will be accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Latin America-hawk who is making a rare foray onto the campaign trail ahead of what many believe will be a presidential run in 2028.
But Trump has in recent days also stepped up the voter fraud allegations that have obsessed him since he lost the 2020 US presidential election.
Some critics now fear Trump is paving the way to challenge the results of the midterms, or even bring in some kind of emergency powers.
Trump on Monday offered a $1 million cash reward for anyone with information leading to convictions for voter fraud.
US voters tire of midterm mudslinging
Fredonia : Stephanie Huser is fed up with the relentless negative attack ads she receives via text message.
"I can't go an hour without getting a political text," the 35-year-old, who lives in rural Kansas, told AFP.
As with many parts of the country, the campaigns for the November 3 midterm elections have turned into an advertising slugfest, with candidates trading increasingly bitter attacks that have left many voters interviewed by AFP exasperated.
"It's been so toxic on both sides, constantly attacking each other that it's confusing people," Huser said. "This is getting ridiculous."
In Kansas, one of the country's tightest races will pit incumbent Republican Senator Roger Marshall against Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton.
Messages targeting the Republican, an obstetrician by profession, have proliferated on television, social media and campaign leaflets, accusing him of "lying" to the public, "pretending he lives in Kansas" and having some of his patients arrested over unpaid medical bills.
Other ads have targeted the Democrat, alleging that he criticized beef consumption in a sermon, is too "woke" or failed in the past to take allegations of child sexual abuse against a member of his church seriously.
'I get so tired'
"I'm getting texts. I'm getting phone calls. I'm getting emails. I'm getting flyers against both of them," Huser said.
Joyce Bracken, 80, a waitress at a local restaurant, feels the same way.
"I get so tired of these people talking bad about each other, bringing up all these things," she told AFP. "I want to know what you're going to do, not what the other guy should have done, or you know what he did wrong."
While such personal attacks are nothing new, their role in US election campaigns keeps growing, according to Don Haider-Markel, a political science professor at the University of Kansas.
"We've seen a lot more negative advertising even earlier. Oftentimes, you don't see the real negative ads until these final two weeks, but it's been pretty consistent throughout the fall of seeing negative ads, especially from Republicans," he said.
'Ready for it to be over'
A campaign ad by Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for Ohio governor, recently sparked national controversy.
In a widely circulated video, Ramaswamy showcases the mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, to accuse his rival of lying.
But the two women have been estranged since Acton, then 12, accused her stepfather of sexually assaulting her over several years and blamed her mother for failing to intervene to protect her.
According to a Gallup poll conducted in late 2025, a large majority of Americans believe political rhetoric in the country has become excessive and vitriolic.
The poll found that 69 percent thought Republicans went too far in their verbal attacks, while 60 percent said the same about Democrats. Both figures have risen since 2011.
"I'm ready for it to all be over," said Diana Martin.
The 82-year-old retiree said she cannot take any more political messages, especially as a resident of Kansas City, located on the border with Missouri.
"Living in Kansas, just next to Missouri, we get everybody's commercials for both states."