Trump says he will ‘veto everything’ if Democrats win Congress, wishes he could run again

Washington, Nov 3 (IANS) President Donald Trump has said he will veto legislation if Democrats win control of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, and acknowledged that the Constitution bars him from seeking a third term, though he said he would “love to run again”.

“I think we’re going to do great. But if we didn’t win, I veto everything. I’ll be vetoing, vetoing,” Trump told New York Post columnist Miranda Devine in an interview for the newspaper’s “Pod Force One” podcast, released on Monday.

In a preview clip aired on Sunday, Trump said: “I guess I’ll become Mr. Veto.” He said that after “a month or two” of vetoes, Democrats would “come over and you make a deal”.

Asked about a third term, Trump said: “I’d love to run again if I had the chance, but the language is very exacting. I would love to. They had a poll the other day where I’d beat everybody by so much. I’d have loved to run, but it’s fine.”

The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution says no person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice. Trump, 80, won the presidency in 2016 and 2024.

“We have more than two years left. That’s a long time. You can do a lot in that period of time, and you’ve seen the job we’ve done,” he said.

Trump also said he was ready to issue pre-emptive pardons to people who worked for him if Democrats, after winning Congress, pursued investigations against them. “I would if I needed to, sure… I would not even think about it. I’d do it. I did it for J6,” he said.

He dismissed polls showing Democrats ahead. “I think they’re rigged. I think a lot of pollsters don’t even send pollsters out,” Trump said. “Maybe they don’t poll Republicans, but I think we’re gonna do pretty well. I do that based on the rallies.”

Trump warned that if Democrats won the House, the Senate and later the White House, “our country is finished”.

Most public polls have shown Democrats favoured to win the House. The final New York Times/Siena polls, released on Sunday, showed Democratic Senate candidates leading by five to 11 points in Kansas, Ohio, Maine, Texas and Michigan.

Under the Constitution, Congress can override a presidential veto only with a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate. Trump vetoed 10 bills in his first term.

–IANS

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