Edward Luce recounts Donald Trump's low-energy election-night call

BBC News broadcast an interview with Edward Luce of the Financial Times about his election-night telephone call with Donald Trump. The Democrats had won control of the Senate and the House in the US midterm elections. Luce said he had been calling Trump throughout the year until early September. An aide told him then that Trump had stopped taking anybody's calls because he was in a foul mood. Luce thought Trump knew what was coming in the midterms, even if not the scale of it.

Luce said he was surprised when Trump did not pick up on election night. Trump returned the call about two hours later. Luce said his main takeaway was that Trump sounded incredibly low energy. He described Trump as resigned and detached, like a passive commentator on what was happening.

When Luce pressed Trump about speculation that he would strike Iran immediately after the midterms, Trump did not seem interested. Luce said Trump told him things were going well and he did not want to upset the apple cart. On Ukraine, Trump said he thought a deal would come very soon. Luce noted that Trump had been saying this for a long time and that the Ukrainians and Russians might not corroborate it.

Luce said Trump appeared to have spent much of the night watching television and making calls. Trump had complained about Fox for weeks and thought the network had turned against him, though Luce said there was little evidence for that. Luce said Trump's most interesting calls were to Fox. There, according to Luce, Trump berated the network but also said he was prepared to work with Democrats. Shortly afterwards, Trump posted on Truth Social that he would veto bills passed by Democrats. Luce warned against over-interpreting Trump's mood in any single moment.

Asked whether anyone was guiding Trump's media interactions, Luce said Trump had been ignoring advice from his team. He cited Trump's eccentric closing campaign speech at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. Luce said White House staff watching on television were left with their heads in their hands in exasperation. He said this was not how campaigns were normally fought and won.