Inside the Republican Party, initial shock at the stunning election results on Tuesday night quickly gave way to anger with US President Donald Trump.
After Democrats won upset after upset in deep-red states like Texas, Kansas and South Carolina, some Republicans focused their ire on Trump, arguing that his focus on his legacy and indifference to voter concerns cost the party control of Congress.
“It’s on him. It’s not on anybody else. It’s a total, complete rejection of President Trump,” Bill Miller, a top Republican lobbyist in Texas, told the BBC. “This is a disaster of the first magnitude. Nobody saw it coming like this.”
Most Republicans expected to lose control of the House and were clear-eyed about the challenge of holding onto the Senate in a tough election cycle that favoured the party out of power.
But some said in interviews that Trump dragged them down with unpopular policies, a low job approval rating and obsession over construction projects in Washington.
“It was just one mistake after another,” said Gregg Peppin, a Republican strategist in Minnesota. “Clearly, in state after state, people did not like the president’s policies.”
A White House ally said public disapproval with Trump over the Iran war, tariffs and the administration’s immigration crackdown created a “perfect storm” in November.
“There’s palpable frustration [within] the party about how this has all played out,” the person said, and much of it is directed at Trump. Anger with Trump “is extremely high”.
The BBC spoke to a dozen party operatives, campaign officials, White House allies and others, many of whom spoke on background to offer a candid assessment of Trump’s approach to the midterms.
Trump and Republicans had a lot riding on the outcome on Tuesday night. A stronger showing by the president’s party – as happened in 2022, when Democrats under then-President Joe Biden lost just nine seats in the House, and gained one in the Senate – would have given Republicans some momentum heading into 2028.
But Trump will instead face a motivated Democratic majority in Congress that is eager to investigate the administration, block his judicial nominees and stymie the rest of his agenda.
The midterms have ushered in an uncertain new phase in Trump’s second term and may force Republicans to start grappling with their post-Trump future.