Trump demands Alaska votes go to Republican after midterms

US President Donald Trump denounced the country's elections as "crooked" on Thursday and demanded that votes cast for two minor candidates in Alaska's unresolved Senate race be transferred to the trailing Republican incumbent, France 24 reported. The outburst came two days after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in a sweeping repudiation of his presidency – results Trump initially accepted.

"Our elections are so crooked, you have no idea," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, also attacking what he called the "disgraceful" victory of a democratic socialist in the Los Angeles mayoral race. On his Truth Social platform, he demanded that ballots for a fringe candidate also named Dan Sullivan – whom Republicans accuse of being a "decoy" – and minor contender Gerald Heikes "should be immediately given to the REAL Dan Sullivan". "There is no other fair solution!" he posted.

In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola leads with 48.2 percent of the vote against incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan's 47.9 percent. In Mississippi, one of the country's most reliably Republican states, Democrat Scott Colom, 43, held a lead of 1,724 votes over incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith with only a handful of ballots left to count, according to France 24. A final result could take days. If he wins, Colom would be Mississippi's first Democratic senator since 1982 and its first African American senator since 1874.

The numbers already settled are stark. Democrats are set to hold at least 54 Senate seats to the Republicans' 44, and their House majority passed 250 seats on Thursday – the party's largest in almost two decades. The night also produced landmark wins: Keisha Lance Bottoms became the first Black female governor of Georgia, and Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan's Senate race to become the first Muslim in the chamber.

Trump has warned he will veto Democratic legislation. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer shot back that if Trump spends the next year blocking bills to lower costs, the "absolute Republican catastrophe on election night 2026 – will look like a good day compared to what will come down on Republicans in the 2028 election".

Some Republicans are already apportioning blame. Ohio congressman Warren Davidson said Trump's war against Iran and his trade wars had cost the party the election, leaving young voters feeling "betrayed". The immediate test is procedural: Mississippi's last ballots are still being tallied and Alaska's count continues, with any legal challenge to the minor-candidate votes likely to land in court in the coming days.